A Broken Soul
by Elssiana
Summary: "You are so full of hatred and fear... How will you ever learn to bring peace when you yourself are at war?" he sighed, shaking his head, "You're broken... You're weak... How in the world do you expect to defeat the Fire Lord in such a miserable, pitiful state?" AU. Zutara. Previously named Save Me.
1. Book 1: Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Second fanfic hurr! My first one was a Phantom of the Opera story called I See You, and you should all go check it out. I have made many people cry over it. Aueheheeeee. Ahem. Anywhoo. Back to this one!**_  
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**First Avatar: Last Airbender fanfic. I am indeed watching Korra, so if any of you want to fangirl over it, I'm totally available. Korra and Mako forever. **

**No, this will not be a song fanfic. Do not be fooled by the lyrics below. It's just a nice opening thingy I put it. However, if you want me to put songs in, I'll do my best. **

**Yes, chapters will be MUCH longer after this one. I myself do not like chapters that are like 1,000 words each. It's boring to me, and I want to create the best and most entertaining piece of fanfiction that I can possibly create. So, give me your honest opinions and feedback. I read every single comment given and respond to them in the next chapter. **

**As far as updating goes, I do update on a very hectic schedule. Even though it is summer, I do have a job and do other things besides write about one of the best TV shows ever. And I'm a lazy motherfucker. I do try to update weekly however, if not, sooner. So, if it has been awhile since an update, PLEASE KNOW that I will NEVER just drop a story. I will always finish them. If I can't finish one, I will ALWAYS make an update telling you guys exactly why I can't finish a story.**

**HOWEVER, I will not update chapters without reviews. AKA, I won't update this chapter if I don't get any reviews. Without reviews, I feel as though nobody reads my story, and therefore what is the point in making new chapters? See my point? Exactly. I'll remind those of you who didn't make it this far in reading the shit before the story begins down below. Sorry it's taking up so much space, I just keep finding more things to say. Now I can't think of anything else. So uh, enjoy. **

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_I'm just a little bit caught in the middle_

_Life is a maze, and love is a riddle_

_I don't know where to go, can't do it alone_

_I've tried and I don't know why_

_I'm just a little girl lost in the moment_

_I'm so scared, but I won't show it _

_I can't figure it out, it's bringing me down _

_I know I've got to let it go and just enjoy the show_

"Hey!" Katara squealed, raising her arms to protect her face from an incoming snowball, "Stop it!"

Sokka grinned at her from inside his small watch tower. He pointed at her and laughed, his oversized fur coat consuming his entire body. Katara glared at him from the ground, and set to creating a large snowball. She shoveled as much snow as she could into her tiny palm, her tongue sticking out from effort; she wanted to smack the smile off of her brother's face.

With a laugh and a wobble she stood back up, looking around for Sokka. He was nowhere in sight. Confused, she began to search the immediate area, a little worried that her big brother had wandered off again. Even though she was only six, Katara was looking out for Sokka more than he looked out for her.

"Sokka! Where are you, Sokka?" she cried, dropping the snowball and running off to his snow fort. She raced up the small icy steps to the petite room (if you could call it a room) that looked out onto the horizon. Katara spotted her brother standing about fifty feet away from the village, completely motionless. He was staring to the sky. Katara looked up, and gasped at what she saw.

Black snow was falling from the heavens.

"_Sokka_!" she cried from the tower, "Come back! Please! I'm scared!"

Sokka turned back around at the sound of her voice, "I'll get dad!" he yelled, charging back to the village.

Katara's lower lip began to tremble. What did this mean? Was something happening? Alone and afraid, she turned back to the steps to find her mother, only to slip and fall down the slippery steps. She gasped as her head hit the ice, and tumbled down the stairs. A few tears escaped her eyes as she clutched her throbbing head and began to sprint off, slightly dizzy from her clumsiness.

As she entered the small village, her eyes widened. The small peaceful little snow village that she had once known was very different. The women and children were running into the tents, the fires being put out. All of the dads had begun to get into their war uniforms. What did that mean? Was someone here to fight them? She stood there watching them for a moment, still clinging to the back of her head, forgetting what she was doing there in the first place. Katara had never seen the dads wear the outfits before; they had simply been for fun, she had thought.

The men began to yell at one another. This confused Katara. Why were they yelling at each other? She thought they liked each other. They all looked so scary and mean now with their faces painted. She began to grow frightened as the black snow increased, seemingly causing the entire village to begin to yell and scream in fear. She ran off further into the village, not looking back.

"Katara!" someone called, but she ignored them.

"Where are you going? Come here, Katara!" but she continued on, running as fast as she could.

Fear overrode her mind. All she could do was run and run. Tears were pouring down her face, sobs breaking through her lips. She tripped, her face slamming into the freezing snow. The back of her head was still throbbing. She couldn't see anything. Her fingers began to grow numb. Katara shivered, curling into a ball and covering her head, silently crying, wishing the yelling and screaming around her would stop.

Nothing was nice now. She thought she lived in a nice village with nice people and a nice family. Katara wanted everything to be peaceful again. What did she do wrong? She cried out as someone grabbed onto the back of her jacket. Katara went limp, her head and limbs hanging, tears falling into the snow below her.

Was this her fault? All she did was want to throw a snowball at her brother to wipe the smile off of his face. Katara promised she would never throw snowballs at her brother again.

A high-pitched scream came from somewhere nearby. Begging followed. A few sharp words.

Katara's head still hurt. She didn't feel well at all. Whenever she tried to open her eyes, the light hurt so much that she closed them again. She was so cold and afraid… Nothing felt right to her.

Something warm grew close to her face. More screams. The warmth felt nice. Suddenly, it disappeared. Katara grew disappointed.

Something hit her head. Suddenly, she didn't feel bad anymore. She didn't feel _anything_ anymore.

_Oh, child…_

Suddenly, Katara felt bad. _Really_ bad. She turned over, throwing up into the snow beside her. Katara coughed and spluttered as she lost everything in her stomach. Opening her eyes, she looked around.

Nothing met her eye. All she saw was snow and ice. Her lower lip quivered. Where was everyone? She slowly stood up, turning in a full circle.

"Mommy? Daddy?" she called out to the wind, "Sokka? Gran-Gran?" she yelled louder, "Anyone? Helloo? Is there someone there?"

Nobody called back.

She sobbed, cupping her hands around her mouth, "_Anybody_?"

She was alone.

Katara curled into a ball, rocking back and forth. Why did this have to happen to her? What even happened? She was confused and hurt… Katara felt abandoned by the world. Who had come to the village? Why were they there? No, it couldn't have been because of her and Sokka… That was foolish… Right?

Of course it was. How childish of her to think that this was _her_ fault. Katara didn't do anything _that_ wrong. All she was doing was playing with Sokka…

Sokka.

Katara missed her brother. Already. Even though he was annoying and stupid, of course. Because he _was_! Stupid Sokka, making Katara angry all the time… Being mean to her…

But Katara loved Sokka. She wished he was here with her. Katara wanted her mother there too. And her father. She looked up. What would her dad do if he was in this situation? She looked around.

Nothing came to mind. All she saw her father doing was telling other people what to do. And hunt. But she never actually saw her dad go hunting. All Katara ever saw was her father leaving really early in the morning, and coming back at night with the rest of the dads with plenty of meat to last about a week.

But Katara couldn't hunt. All she could do was waterbend, and she didn't even know how to do _that_.

Maybe she should just do _something_. Katara didn't want to freeze to death. So, she stood up, brushed the snow off of herself, and began to walk.

And walk.

And walk…

She marched for hours without a single sign of life. This didn't stop her, however. Katara constantly was looking around, confident that someone would call out to her. Anyone. She didn't care if it was her mother or father. She would even settle for Sokka if it came down to it. But Katara knew someone would help her. As night fell, she finally arrived to the ocean, cold and tired and hungry. She sniffled a bit, wishing she knew how to catch a fish with her hands. Katara knelt down to the ocean, gazing into the water.

She couldn't see anything. Katara glared at the water. Why did it have to be so _dark_? She jumped back up, pacing a bit, wondering what to do. The more she thought, the angrier she got.

"_WHY_ is this happening to me?" she cried, throwing her fists to the air, "This is so _mean_!" she scream, throwing her hands back down. A large crack echoed through the air around her, but Katara didn't notice, "I didn't even _do_ anything! Please help me! It's so unfair! I'm too little to do this stuff!" she continued, throwing her hands around. More cracks and moans came from under her feet.

"The world just HATES me, DOESN'T IT?" she screamed to the air, falling to her knees and slamming her fists to the ground.

Suddenly, a large _snap_ erupted. Katara gasped, slowly looking back at what she had done. An entire chunk of ice had dislocated itself from the mainland, and _she was on it_.

"Noo!" she screamed, scrambling and crawling to the edge of the floating chunk as it drifted away, reaching a hand back to the mainland, "_Help me_!"

But she was too far away to swim now. Katara's eyes widened, realizing how drastic her situation had become. She collapsed onto her stomach, one hand hanging off of the edge of the ice, still staring back to where she had just been moments ago, in shock. Katara watched as the land grew smaller and smaller until she couldn't see it anymore.

What had she done?

She turned back around, slowly crawling to the middle of her small floating island. Katara collapsed, curling back into a little ball, shivering in her oversized blue fur coat. She felt the steady rock of the deadly waves beneath her, a few tears dripping down her cheeks at the thought of perishing to them.

What if she fell in? Katara couldn't swim for very long. And the water was so cold… Colder than the water closer to home. She began to shiver violently at the thought of the water consuming her small frame, choking her, drowning her, and killing her.

She thought of how ironic it was that a waterbender, surrounded by water and ice, could do nothing to save herself. A cry escaped her clenched lips. She was so useless and weak… So tiny and meaningless… How could she, Katara, the only waterbender in the whole South Pole, get herself out of this situation? Her mind scrambled to find a solution, but nothing came to her.

It grew darker yet. Soon, she couldn't see more than an inch in front of her. Katara didn't know how she was going to survive the night. Normally she was cuddled up with her mother at night, and they were both warm under plenty of blankets and pillows. But now, Katara was alone, with only her clothes to keep her warm in the below freezing temperatures. Ice was beginning to form on her. She didn't feel it though. Katara couldn't feel anything anymore. But maybe that was a good thing; she couldn't feel the sharp stings in her fingers and toes anymore.

She shifted around, making sure she could still move. Katara laid out on her back, and began to stare at the full moon above her. A smile broke through the thin layer of snow and ice on her face. Katara loved the moon. It was so pretty and white, just like the snow that she lived in. The moon was so grand and bright; it made Katara feel a little safer now that she was looking at it, knowing it was there. Thinking back to happier times, Katara remembered her mother telling her that the moon was a god. This made Katara let out a small laugh. She could almost imagine the moon god, or goddess, looking down at her now, laughing at her pathetic state.

"Hi moon god. Or goddess? I'm… not really sure…" she wheezed, making conversation, "You're… so pretty…"

Katara giggled, feeling a bit woozy. Her eyes began to droop and her limbs began to relax. She was so tired… So very tired…

Katara drifted deep into her mind, and prayed she would never have to come back out.

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**HELLOOOOOO all of you who didn't read the top :D It's okay, I understand.**

**What I mentioned above is if I don't get any reviews for chapters, I don't update since I think nobody likes/reads it. SOOOO, if you want more... Review.**

**And chapters will be much longer after this. It's just the intro.**

**Oh, and read the top. Just saying. I said a lot more important shit up there. **

**THANKS FOR READING**


	2. Book 1: Chapter 2

**Sorry about the hold up. A lot of shit has gone down in my life. Aka, busybusybusy, lazylazylazy, omgomgomg i need to writewritewrite. Uhhh, laterlaterlater, must sleepsleepsleep. Yeah. Sorry. It took a lot of Avatar youtube videos to inspire me to get back to writing this lol. Thanks for your reviews!**

**loli-bel****le: Thank you! I hope you like the next chapter!**

**PanicAtTheEpicness: AHHHHHH HI BEST FRIEND! Thanks, I spent a lot of time stressing over whether or not the summary was good haha. And I'm not giving anything away to you, hehee.**

**SammiRichGurl: Hi! Updated hurr! Hope you like it :D**

**Patronizing**: **Don't patronize me D: D: D: Hehe jk. Updated :D**

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"Get back here!"

Katara slapped a palm to her face.

_Shit_.

She sprinted off down the street, glancing over her shoulder to see an angry man adorned in light green pants and a darker green shirt waving a fist in the air sprinting after her. She gasped, tucking the melon closer to her side and picked up the pace. Her bare feet pounded at the stone streets, bits of dust flying behind her as she took a sharp right past a market stand.

It was noon in the small earth nation village she had stopped at, and there were plenty of people out and about to slip by. Now all she had to do was escape this angry fruit seller, and she could enjoy her well earned lunch.

Katara's long brown hair flew behind her as she took another sharp right when the street ended, slipping into the town square. A medium sized fountain sat in the middle, spewing out wonderful, glorious water. Katara almost laughed with joy; it was her perfect escape mechanism.

Water bending.

Katara snapped her hand out, whirling a stream of water out of the fountain. She spun around, bended the water onto the ground behind her and froze it, all as she continued turning back front. Katara smiled as she heard the man spin and fall, spewing curses at her as she made her escape through a large crowd of curious onlookers.

Katara slowed to a stop around a minute later, pausing near a different merchant. After a few minutes of standing inconspicuously as possible next to the small jewelry stand, Katara determined the coast was clear from the fruit seller. She sighed with relief as she walked through the streets to the main gate, shaking the melon this way and that, seeing how good her prize was. Katara was overjoyed to find it in perfect condition despite the small chase it had been through. She hadn't had a good meal for around a week now; Katara had only chanced upon the town while she was wandering along a small dirt road she had come upon.

Katara made her way outside the village, wandering along the overgrown tree line for around forty feet. Then, she walked through the forest until she came across a familiar berry bush. Katara snatched a berry off of the leaves before diving a hand into the heart of the plant, retrieving the few possessions she owned: a small backpack, a few water skins, and a small blanket tied to the top of her backpack. She opened the bag, checking to make sure everything was there. It all was: a small coin purse (there was hardly anything in it), a little woven bag for her food (mostly containing berries she had borrowed from the bush), a pair of gloves (they were in good condition, she hardly ever wore them), a small comb (because, why not?), a map (even though she didn't exactly know where she was), and a carving knife in its leather sheath (for various uses).

Katara grabbed the knife, removing the sheath and cutting the melon in half. She cleaned the knife off on her pants before restoring it to its place, swung the bag on her back, attached the water skins to her waist, and set off on her way, a melon half in each hand. She hungrily munched on her lunch as she wandered off into the forest, not entirely sure of where she was going. This didn't bother her, however. Katara hadn't known where she was going or what she was doing for a very, very long time.

Katara looked down at herself. Her clothes were getting quite rugged; her tight brown sleeveless top was full of dirt and holes, and her flowing cream pants that stopped just below her knees had stains and blood marks on them. She shook her head. Even though she was a homeless thirteen year old wandering alone in the world, she had certain expectations of herself.

"Katara, you need to find some new clothes." She told herself, "It doesn't need to be anything special. Next town you come across, you need to find some new pants. And a new shirt. And oh! Maybe a new pair of shoes!" she cried, shaking her right foot in the air. Her feet were full of scars and dirt. They had become rough over the years of walking.

Katara sighed, looking around. She was completely and utterly alone. She ripped another chunk off of the melon. She remembered when she was afraid of being alone. Katara used to be helpless and weak… She frowned at the thought. Was she still helpless? Was she weak? Katara looked down at the stolen melon in her hands.

No, she wasn't helpless. Katara was independent now. She was strong and agile; she could get food for herself, by herself. By staying out of trouble and hiding in the shadows, Katara had managed to remain out of harm's way. Avoidance. Running away. That was how she had survived all of this time. It's not like she had any other choice, however. Katara didn't enjoy living in fear of someone coming and hurting her, or taking advantage of her again. She shuddered at past memories, but continued moving on.

Katara approached a long river. She moved on, not hesitating for a moment as she stuck a piece of melon in her mouth, allowing one hand to be free. Taking position, Katara placed a steady foot down, waved her hand around as she turned, and thrusted it out toward the water. She happily took the melon back out of her mouth as she marched along the ice sheet she had created, forming a small bridge for her to cross. As she hit land again, Katara pushed a hand towards the ground, and the ice immediately melted away.

Her water bending was something that Katara took great pride in. She had taught herself everything that she knew. Through careful practice and creativity, Katara considered her almost a master. However, she wasn't exactly sure what the qualifications were to be a master. After all, she had lived half of her life by herself, or with people who were not exactly role models.

But Katara didn't like to think of those times. She liked her time alone much better. However, she did have to give those people credit for beginning her on her path of learning to fight. Katara may be young, but she was a surprisingly good fighter. She credited this to her ability to maneuver around in ways that others could not.

Katara finally finished off her melon. She sighed in pleasure, licking her fingers in an attempt to get every last bit of fruity flavor off of them before wiping her sticky hands on her shirt. Katara looked around the forest, deciding she would try to find another village. However, she wasn't exactly sure where to start.

_Crack_.

Katara was off.

She sprinted away from the sound of a twig snapping, never looking around to see what was there. Not even making a sound, she sucked the water out of the shrubs and bushes around her, forming a small vortex of water around her small frame and shooting herself into the tree tops above, leaving a small sphere of dead plants where she was. Katara flew through the trees, jumping from branch to branch, panting slightly from the effort.

Katara could hear something in the distance chasing her. She bit her lip, fear erupting from her mind. Moving even faster, Katara charged forward. The noise grew louder and louder, closer and closer. Katara looked behind her to see a cloud of dust moving in a beeline towards her. She yelled, suddenly tripping over a branch.

Katara fell from the tree line to the ground forty feet below. She screamed, watching as the ground came closer at an alarming rate. Panicking, she shielded her head, bracing herself for the worst. Suddenly, she was hit from the side by a rather small thing. The two of them shot through the air until the collided with another tree.

"Oof!" she gasped as the hit the tree. The pair slowly slid down until they not-so-gracefully hit the ground. Dizzy and confused, Katara rubbed her head, slowly opening her eyes to the whirling world around her. Once the spinning stopped, Katara was able to see a small child standing next to her, looking out in front of her.

"Are you okay?" she piped up.

Katara's eyes widened, looking the girl up and down. She was no older than eleven years old, wearing bright green and white clothing that looked like it belonged to a fighter. She had a small tiara looking headband in her short black hair, but it wasn't working very well since strands of it still covered her face.

"You know, you move pretty fast for a girl!" she laughed, waving a hand out to her. She slammed a foot into the ground, and somewhere near off Katara heard a loud _thud_. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a rabbit came from the sky and landed directly into the small girl's open hand.

It was dead.

"You want some lunch?" the girl asked, turning away from a shocked Katara, "I normally don't eat with strangers, but you don't seem that dangerous."

Katara remained where she sat, dumbfounded. Who was this girl? Where did she come from? What was going on? Maybe if she moved very quietly, she could sneak away from this odd stranger and make an escape…

Katara slowly stood up. Without making a sound, she began to tip toe in the opposite direction…

Suddenly, a large wall of rock shot up from the ground in front of her. Katara yelled, jumping back.

"Don't sneak away on me, missy!" the kid yelled from her place a few meters away. She appeared to be starting a fire, "I know where you are!"

Stunned, Katara walked over to the girl. Sitting down slowly, Katara began to watch as the girl shuffled around with the sticks and stones, never really truly looking at them. Upon further inspection, Katara noticed her eyes were fogged over. She gasped, covering her mouth.

"What?" the girl asked bluntly, pausing what she was doing.

Katara stared at her, "You… You're blind?"

The girl rolled her unseeing eyes, "Yeah, yeah…" and started with the fire again.

"H-how are you doing things?" Katara asked as she leaned in, intrigued.

The girl's head snapped up sharply, a glare set on her face, "Hey, I don't ask people who I owe my life to personal questions when _I_ just meet them." She snapped, "Keep your nose out of it!"

Katara jolted back, shocked at the amount of ferocity coming out of such a tiny body. She pulled her legs up to her chin and sat in silence as the curious girl made the fire, skinned the rabbit with her own knife that was hidden in her belt, and cooked it.

After handing Katara her half of the rabbit, the girl dropped down into a lounge position on the earth and began to dig in, "Sho huts or nem." She said through a mouthful of rabbit.

Katara raised an eyebrow, holding her piece of rabbit in hand, not that hungry after the melon, "Katara."

"My name is Toph!" she replied after swallowing, "Where are you headed?"

"I thought you didn't ask strangers personal questions."

Toph laughed, ignoring her as she continued to eat happily.

"Well, I'm not really sure where I'm going." Katara said, "Do you know where we are?"

"Yep." Toph said, "We're a town over from Gaoling. Omashu is north west of here, the Si Wong Desert is to the north. North of the Desert is Ba Sing Se though, if that's where you're headed." Toph said as if she were repeating a history lesson.

Katara pulled out her map, looking around until she found their location. She smiled, making mental note of where she was, "Thanks. Where are you headed?"

"Not Gaoling." She sighed.

"Why?" Katara asked, putting the map away.

"I ran away." Toph said simply, playing with the cooked rabbit. She tossed the rest into her mouth, hungrily chewing it.

Katara looked at her, slightly worried. Why would someone her age run away from home?

"Do you want to talk about it?" Katara asked, offering Toph her untouched rabbit. Toph smiled, grabbing the rabbit from her.

"I just didn't really like it there…" she said, "My parents were sort of… not understanding. I can take care of myself!" she snarled, pointing the chopped up, almost burnt rabbit corpse at her.

Katara covered her mouth, suppressing a laugh. She couldn't remember the last time she had a decent conversation with someone.

"So you're an earthbender?"

"Yup!" she said proudly.

"Wow! Did someone teach you?"

"Badgermoles." Toph stated.

"What?" Katara asked, surprised.

"Badgermoles." Toph repeated, "The big ones."

Katara's eyes widened, "Wow. That's amazing! How did you manage to learn from them?"

Toph shrugged, "They're blind too."

"Oh."

Toph jumped up from her position, brushing the dirt off of her. Katara watched, a little sad to see her new friend leave so quickly.

"Uhm… Well, where did you say you were going?" Katara asked quickly, desperate for her to stay a little longer. Friendly people were hard to come by for her.

"I don't know. Where are you going?"

Katara looked down to the ground. Where _was_ she going?

"I'm not sure either." She said finally.

"Why are you out here? You're a little older than me… Around thirteen, right?"

"Yeah."

"Why are you out here all by yourself?" Toph giggled, "You seem pretty defenseless."

"Well, you're only like, eleven!" Katara retorted.

"True." She said, kicking dirt into the fire, "So, do you want to go nowhere together? I mean, I don't want you to get into any trouble or anything. You seem decent enough."

It was like music to her ears. Katara jumped up in excitement, "Oh! Sure!" she cried, readjusting her backpack, "Let's go!"

Toph looked around, "Uhm. Where?"

"I don't know. Hmmm. Didn't you say we were near Omashu?"

"Not _near_…" Toph sighed.

They set off in the direction of Omashu, Katara giddy with excitement. She finally had a traveling partner that she could trust. After all, she was younger than Katara. And they both seemed to be in the same situation. Katara looked over to her new friend. Toph was a full head shorter than Katara. This comforted her; it made Toph look less intimidating. More trustful, almost.

That was what Katara needed most.

"So… Why are you all the way over in the Earth Kingdom? It's a long way from the North or South Pole." Toph said after a few minutes of silence.

"Oh. Well, I'm from the South Pole." Katara said weakly.

"Why aren't you there now? Did you run away too?"

"No. Not exactly…"

"What happened?"

Katara sighed, brushing back a piece of stray hair behind her ear, "My village was attacked by fire nation soldiers."

"Oh." Toph said quietly, "Did you escape?"

"I don't remember." Katara said honestly, "All I remember was passing out, and then somehow ending up in the middle of nowhere… Then on a block of floating ice. I remember being so scared and alone… I was only four. Or was it five? I can't really remember. It was a long time ago."

"How'd you get out here?"

"It's a long story… I don't really like to think about it too much." Katara said, the familiar burn beginning to sear her eyes.

"Okay." Toph said simply, her face unmoving from a spot in front of her.

Katara looked over at her and smiled, "Thanks. Maybe some other time."

"No problem!" Toph said with a smile, "So we are traveling by foot the whole way, huh?"

"I've traveled by foot for as long as I can remember. Or by ostrich horse." Katara said thoughtfully.

"Why don't we get some of those?"

"They need food and water you know. I've never kept one for more than a week at a time."

"Well, by this rate, we'll get to Omashu when we're old and hairy, Katara."

Katara tapped a finger to her chin, "Okay. We'll find a farm and get some supplies there before we _really_ set off."

"Good plan. Just one problem." Toph said, "The closest farm is in the opposite direction."

After an hour of backtracking, Katara and Toph finally made their way to a large farm. With the help of some clever bending, and Toph's ability to sense anyone around them ("Wow! You can like, hear people?" "More like sense them."), the two managed to gather enough supplies for a week, as well as two ostrich horses. By the end of the day, the two were traveling along a large road with the occasional sign that said, "To Omashu."

"Do you ever wonder what happened to the rest of your village, Katara?" Toph asked, "Do you think they miss you?" she asked a bit sadly, bowing her head slightly.

Katara looked over to her sadly, knowing that she wasn't talking entirely about her own misfortunes, "I'm sure they do."

"Why don't they come for you then? Why have you been so alone for years and years?"

"I don't know…" Katara said quietly.

Toph looked over to her, "Why haven't you gone back?"

Katara knew _exactly_ why she had never returned. She knew _exactly_ why she could never return. Never again would she be able to see her parent's faces, or listen to Sokka talk about stupid things… Katara wished she could go back every day to her home land, to be among the ice and snow. She wanted to wear the large fur coat that she had abandoned years ago. She wanted to eat the traditional Southern Water Tribe foods and ride the traditional boats again. Katara missed everything about her home…

But everything about it made her hurt so much inside. Katara desperately wanted to share this with Toph, to tell her the reasons why she was so hurt and confused inside. But instead, she did what the world had taught her to do.

She put on a blank face, and didn't respond to the question that had been burning in the back of Katara's mind since the moment she had been severed from her tribe, her roots… Her life.

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**Sorry if there was spelling mistakes or whatever, I literally just finished this lol, and im tired. its just been waaaayyyyy to long lol. **

**This is still in the setting up the story phase as i like to call it, so yeah, not much happened here except more explaining and character intros haha.**

**REVIEW! TELL ME IF YOU LIIIKKEEEEE IT! **


	3. Book 1: Chapter 3

**Hello everyone! Sorry for the long update time, I have been so busy with summer shit and work and I had my birthday and everything. Been crazy. **

**Thank you for all the reviews! I don't think people have been able to see the story on the actual like general ATLA fanfic stories, so I've been working on that as well. We'll see if this is showing up or not.**

**PanicAtTheEpicness: ****Of course I remember you! How could I forget my best friend? Haha. And you'll see.. You shall see! And One Direction? Seriously? Hahahaha**

**The 13th Heart: So, basically, you want me to explain the entire story to you. Yeah. That's not how I roll :P The way I write, I have many things that are left for the reader to find out at a later period. So it's good you have those questions. They were meant to be asked. So my answer to them is: You'll find out.**

**The Hunger Games: I LOVE RUE. I'm actually wearing a hunger games shirt right now... Omg.**

**Guest: Sorry D:**

**reillyisme: Thank you! And thanks for reading the top lmao**

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Katara raised an eyebrow to Toph, "What are you doing?"

"Cleaning." She said simply.

Katara stared at her new traveling companion as she picked and her toes, slightly disgusted. She didn't want to know why Toph thought of this as a social acceptable thing to do, but decided to ignore it. After tying the reins of the ostrich horses a bit tighter to the tree they set up camp next to Katara sat back down in front of the fire, Toph directly across from her.

Katara looked up to the canopy above them. She could _just_ see twinkling lights through a small opening in the branches above them. Even though she could only see a small part of it, Katara smiled as she lay down on the grass, knowing that a full sky was above them, glimmering with a billion stars that watched over them.

"Ahhhh…" Toph sighed, finally lying down as well, "That's the stuff."

"You're pretty disgusting." Katara retorted.

"You should try it some time. I live for the sweeeet picking sensation."

Katara crinkled her nose, ignoring the request.

"It's been about a week since you first set off with me." Katara said, changing the subject, "How far do you think we've gotten?"

"Meh. Not very far. Like I said, Omashu isn't exactly go a few miles and turn at the next rock. For all we know, we might be traveling in the wrong direction."

"Maybe we should stop for directions."

"Whatever, I'm fine with anything. I'm just glad to be moving around."

Katara was glad for Toph's simple nature. It was easy to get along with her. Most of the time, they sat in a comfortable silence, not having much to say to one another. Both of them were just glad to not be alone anymore, Katara realized. This pleased Katara, but at the same time, disappointed her. She wanted to get to know Toph, to become her friend. Maybe they could just travel around together forever, not really doing much, ignoring the world. The idea excited Katara: ignoring the world. In fact, she wanted nothing to do with the universe. Not after what she had been through. To be wandering forever, never really getting involved with anything, seemed… comfortable. Easy. Peaceful.

Katara wanted to be peaceful…

"Hey, Toph."

"Yeah?"

Katara bit her lip. What was she going to say? She should have thought of something to ask before she had spoken up.

"Uhm… So… Do you, uh… Know anyone? In Omashu?"

"Nope."

Katara wanted to slap herself. Of course she didn't know anybody in Omashu, Toph had said she had never been there before. The conversation was getting nowhere; Katara began to panic, raking her brain for something to talk about.

"Well… Maybe we will! When we, you know… Get to Omashu…"

"Are you looking for something in Omashu, Katara?" Toph asked, slightly confused.

"Oh, no… No, not really…"

Silence.

"Katara, you taught yourself everything you know about bending, right?" Toph said

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I mean, you're pretty good, right?"

"I think I am."

"Well, I _know_ I'm good. One of the best, actually. But that's because I learned from someone else. I saw other earthbenders, fought other earthbenders, and was taught by them too."

"Yeah? So?"

"Well, you've only learned by using it to help you survive out here."

Katara grew confused, "Does that not make me a good waterbender?" she asked, slightly panicked.

"No, it's just that you've only mastered _one_ _side_ of waterbending. You can use water to your advantage and everything, sure. But you've never _fought_ with it."

Katara bit her lip, "Uh… Yeah, never." She lied.

"Exactly." Toph said, rolling over on her stomach to face her, "So maybe you should?"

"I should what? Fight someone?"

"_Learn_ from someone."

Katara rolled over as well, looking to Toph through the fire, "There are no waterbending masters in the Earth Kingdom, Toph."

"So," Toph said slowly, "Let's go to the North Pole."

Katara's eyes widened, "But Toph, that's literally on the other side of the world… And we're riding on _ostrich horses_. Besides, how will we even get through the water after the land ends? It's not like we can just fly over."

"We can figure that out along the way. Come on, it's not like you've got anything _better_ to do."

Katara began to play with her hair, staring into the fire. She had never thought of it before, going to the North Pole. Would she be able to? After all, it's not like the Southern Water Tribe and the Northern Water Tribe had much contact with one another…

"I guess we can…" Katara said slowly, "We'll just… Aim North I suppose."

Toph rolled back over onto her back, folding her arms under her head, "Cool. Maybe we could practice on the way, so you're all warmed up and kicking for training."

Katara smiled over to Toph, "Why are you thinking so much about me?"

Toph shrugged, "_You_ don't seem to be thinking enough about yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Just a vibe I've been getting."

Katara frowned, rolling back onto her back. She looked back up through the small opening in the forest to the sky, staring up at the shining stars. What did Toph mean by that? Who else would Katara be thinking of besides herself? She had been alone for almost her entire life.

The rest of the night passed in silence. Katara couldn't settle her mind long enough to fall asleep; there was far too much to think about now. The North Pole? Learning from a master? It was so exciting, and terrifying, that the more she thought of it, the more the idea grew on her. Suddenly, it was all Katara wanted to do. Why had she not thought of it before?

As the dawn approached, Katara already had the camp packed up and ready. By the time Toph rose from her slumber, all of the supplies were reattached to the ostrich horses, the campfire had been put out, and a small breakfast of berries and nuts lay out for Toph. The tiny earthbender slowly rose from the ground, groaning and yawning as she cracked her bones and stretched her muscles. After smacking her lips a few times, she spoke up.

"You're up early." She stated bluntly, falling back down on her rear end and grabbing her measly meal, "What's the rush all of a sudden?"

Katara shrugged, a foolish grin plastered on her face, "For the first time since I can remember, I'm going somewhere. Not just wandering around, wondering what's going to happen to me. I have a plan, and a destination, and a reason for going somewhere." She said excitedly, giving the ropes holding up the blankets a good tug to reassure herself they would not come tumbling down throughout the day, "It's so… I don't know. Thrilling."

"You need to get out more if planning stuff gets you this excited."

Katara ignored her, refusing to let Toph's sarcasm bring her down. Nothing could upset Katara today; it was the first step in a plan, a plan that she knew would change her life forever. Today marked the day of the rest of Katara's life. It sent shivers up her spine thinking about the things she would learn, the people she would meet, and the things she would encounter.

"Ready to go?" she said, turning to face a still half asleep Toph. Toph blew a piece of ragged hair from her face, shrugged, threw the rest of her breakfast in her mouth, and jumped up. They set off just as the world began to wake, the sun just starting to warm the lands with its glaring gaze. Katara felt as if it was wishing them good luck on their journey as it peeked over the forest filled horizon.

A few hours later, the pair came across a small village. It almost reminded Katara of the one she had stopped at for lunch the day she had run into Toph. It was far from any sort of proper civilization, but was self sustaining enough so that it rarely needed any outside assistance. It was a perfect place to stop at to resupply.

Or, as Katara liked to put it, borrowing without intention of ever returning or repaying.

"While we're here," Katara said quietly as the two of them walked through the streets, ostrich horses and gear at a safe distance from the town, "I want some new clothes."

"I think they look fine on you!" Toph said with a smile, her blind eyes glimmering with humor.

Katara raised an eyebrow at her, "It's not how they look. They're torn up and ragged. I look like a poor homeless child."

"But you _are_ a poor homeless child, Katara."

"No. I'm just a traveler."

"A _homeless_ traveler."

"Okay, okay, whatever! I just want something different to wear."

The two of them continued on down the worn down streets. The market was full of life, people buzzing around, selling, buying, yelling, bargaining, and making a general ruckus. Katara grinned. This was the perfect time to make a few sneaky slips; the busy market was the perfect cover.

"Okay. You get some food, I'll get the clothes. We'll both see if we can get anything else of use. Meet back at the camp in one hour." Katara murmured under her breathe so only Toph could hear her. Toph gave a quick nod, and strolled off whistling to herself.

After a bit of searching, Katara managed to find a stand selling clothes. After a quick glance at the options available, she deemed that only a pair of deep red flowing pants and a small thin strapped black top were in stealing position. As she walked past the stand, making sure not to go to fast, Katara began to play with the necklaces at the jewelers stand nearby. As she browsed, Katara made sure to keep an eye on the clothes seller, taking note of when she should grab her future clothes and take off.

Just as the woman began to speak with a potential customer, Katara dropped the pair of earrings she had been examining. She briskly walked past the stand, slipping the clothes under her arm, and began fast walking away. After turning the corner without hearing a loud yell, Katara let out a sigh of relief. She unfolded her prize, getting a better look at them. She frowned.

They were a bit different than Katara had assumed. The black shirt would only be going down to just above her belly button, and the straps on it were barely thicker than two of her fingers. The deep red pants would be tight around her waist, and go down to a bit below her knee. Katara sighed. It was not what she was hoping for, but at least they were better than her brown, murky, holey, disgusting attire that she had on now. After slipping into an abandoned street, Katara hid behind a small house, changed, and abandoned the old clothes in a nearby barrel.

Shaking her head at her new appearance, Katara began to look around for other items of use, trying to ignore the small glances that she was getting from young boys. Katara grew frustrated, unable to concentrate knowing that at almost all times, someone was looking at her. How was she supposed to steal something with all of the attention directed towards her exposed stomach? She looked down at it, wondering what was so great about it. It was toned and hardened over time, as well as her arms and calves. Looking into a barrel of water, she saw a thin face looking back at her, hair down with her classic loopies attached near the back of her head with a few pieces of string.

Katara saw nothing worth staring over. It was embarrassing and slightly creepy. She unconsciously tugged at the ends of the shirt, willing it to be longer as she progressed through the market. However, she was unable to grab anything else due to a few boys walking up to her and attempting to make small talk.

Defeated, Katara walked back to the campsite empty handed.

As she approached, Katara gasped as she found Toph leaning back upon a massive pile of fruit, bread, and salted meat. Toph was lazily chewing on a bit of straw, hands thrown behind her head, not a care in the world.

"You took awhile. Didn't you get anything?" Toph asked.

Katara sighed, "No. Just these new clothes… But now that I'm wearing them, suddenly people began to stare at me and talk to me for no reason. I don't understand."

"You must look hot then."

"What?"

"You probably look good in the new clothes, I said."

Katara was mortified, "I-I… What? No, that's a mistake."

Toph shrugged, standing up and stretching, "Well, help me pack all of this away before the bugs get to it. We should just ride right through the village, it's the easiest way around it from what I can tell." She said, wiggling her toes at the last few words.

Katara nodded, helping Toph pack the supplies away. Along with the enormous amount of food Toph had gotten, she had also managed to "borrow" some rope, a few torches, regular pieces of cloth, an extra knife, a few more water skins, and even an extra bag, just because they would need it for the additional things.

A bit of yelling came from within the village as they approached it on their ostrich horses.

"Huh, I wonder what's going on…" Katara said wearily.

"They probably realized how much we got from them." Toph said with a smug look on her face, "Come on, don't be a sissy."

Katara bit her lip, but urged her ostrich horse on. As they rode in, the streets were deserted.

"Toph…" Katara said, knowing Toph couldn't see anything from atop the mount, "Nobody is outside anymore…"

Toph shrugged, but Katara could see a bit of worry making it's way onto Toph's face. Katara's eyes darted around, searching for danger. But they continued on, steadily making their way through the town, faces hiding behind windows and doors, frightened eyes peeking around corners at them.

"Toph, I-" but Katara got cut off as a yell came from a street opposite to them.

"You! Over there! Stop!" came a rough voice. Katara looked over to see a group of fire nation soldiers, two atop komodo rhinos. Katara's eyes widened as they began to march over, "What are you doing out? We said, everyone inside!" the man continued.

Panic filled Katara's thoughts. She went into overdrive. Grabbing the reins to Toph's ostrich horses, she sent the two of them zooming off through the town, leaving the soldier yelling behind them.

"What are you doing, Katara?" Toph yelled, clinging to the animal for her life, "We weren't in trouble! We just had to explain to them!"

Katara ignored her, fear taking the place of common sense. Her breaths came out in short gasps, the only thought on her mind was to escape the danger. To run, to hide. To flee, to avoid. She wanted nothing to do with whatever was happening to the village. She wanted nothing to do with the soldiers that were now pursuing them. She wanted nothing to do with the inevitable doom that would await them if they were caught, for she was sure that it would only lead to a fire nation prison.

Glancing behind her, Katara saw the two men on the komodo rhinos in pursuit. She gasped, turning back around, turning off of the rode that lead out of the town and into the forest. Katara weaved them through the thick woods, praying that the soldiers would not follow them.

She was wrong.

Not far behind them, Katara's heart sank as she heard the smashing and breaking of trees as the rhinos soldiers continued their pursuit.

"They're mad!" Toph yelled over the wind and destruction of trees, still clinging for her life.

The forest ended, and broke off into a large, open field stretching for miles. Looking behind her, Katara saw the rhinos break free from the forest, growing closer and closer.

"Here, take the reins!" Katara shouted, throwing the pair of ropes at Toph.

"Yeah, let the blind girl steer the horses!" Toph yelled, keeping them in as straight of a line as she could manage.

Katara flipped in her saddle so she was sitting backwards, facing the rhinos approaching them. She bended the water out of the water skins, keeping it floating around her as she waited for an attack that would surely come now that they left the forest.

As she waited, she got a better look at the soldiers. One of them wore the usual fire nation soldier helmet. However, the other one did not. From a distance, Katara could just make out that he was bald except for a long pony tail near the back of his skull, and had a terrible scar across his left eye, consuming that part of his face.

Suddenly, the man with the scar began to shoot. He punched the air repeatedly, throwing fireballs at Katara. She easily deflected them with the water, putting them out before they had the chance to even get her warm. Katara grinned, seeing the fury that this caused the man with the scar when he realized she was a waterbender. He yelled something to his companion, and suddenly the air was filled with fire.

Katara frantically deflected the incoming heat wave, but soon the water had all but evaporated from the heat. She threw her hands out, bending the water from the long grass around them, instantly killing the plants. Katara formed a sheet of ice on the ground behind them, and watched as the rhinos struggled to find their footing as they slid across it. The man with the helmet's rhino came crashing down, leaving him behind as the man with the scar's rhino managed to keep up, although now a considerable distance away.

Katara drew more water from the wildlife around her, ignoring the black splotches in the vast green around them. After deflecting another burst of fire, she lashed out at him, and they began their duel again.

"Stop playing around!" Toph screamed, "Just finish him off!"

"It's a bit harder than it sounds, Toph!" Katara yelled back, slashing out and around and back again, each time missing the man as he swerved or ducked or deflected it with a burst of flames, "He just won't give up!"

"Then we need to face him off! I'll pull the ostrich horses to a stop, and we can take him together!"

"No!" Katara screamed, panicked at the idea of stopping the escape. But it was to late. Toph wheeled the mounts around, charging directly past the rhino and back towards where they had came from. After a short moment, Toph wheeled them to a stop, and the two jumped to the ground and they watched the man's rhino try to turn around as well. It was not as agile as their ostrich horses, and it took him a good moment to bring it back to face the two girls.

Slowing to a stop, the man jumped down, hands at the ready for the fight. Katara noticed that he was not even much older than the two of them, a teenager. His face was filled with anger and stress; his one eyebrow pointed downward, a large frown plastered across his face.

Katara and Toph took the defensive, "What do you want with us?" Katara called out.

"Why are you running away? You obviously have something to hide!" the boy called back, "What are you? Thieves? Murderers? Or perhaps the Avatar?" he said, raising his eyebrow to Katara.

"You're insane!" Katara yelled to him, "Leave us alone! We've done nothing wrong!"

"Nothing besides interrupting my men with their mission!" the boy yelled back, "Besides, where do two little girls get all of those things?" he said, nodding towards the bulging sacks upon the ostrich horses, "I doubt you have the money for all of that. Surrender or I will arrest you by force!"

"I like the second option better!" Toph yelled, slamming a foot into the ground, bending a large rock to float in the air in front of her. Katara also assumed the ready stance, bending the water around her to swirl around her frame, ready for anything.

"Very well." The boy said. He took a deep breath, jumped to the air, and they began.

It was an intense fight, Katara had to admit it. She had not fought for the longest time, and she was quite rusty. However, as they spun and shot at one another, Toph made it clear that she was not lying about her abilities.

The boy began to struggle. As the duel began to turn in their favor, the boy grew more desperate, his attacks coming faster and more random. However, suddenly, he began to laugh, slowing down.

"Are you still going to fight now?" he called, shooting through a large boulder Toph had sent at him. Katara and Toph looked behind them, seeing at least twenty men and three more komodo rhinos charging towards them.

"This is why I didn't want to stop, Toph! Now look! We're doomed!" Katara hissed, tumbling out of the way of a fireball and shooting out several ice spikes at the fire nation boy, which he kicked down with a flaming side kick.

Toph frowned, "Eh. We'll be fine. I think." She said, raising her arms in the air.

Katara followed, lifting her hands as she glared at the boy as he approached them, pulling out rope from within his armor. He grabbed her hands, swung her around, and bound them as tight as they would go. Katara winced, but bit her lip, not allowing the yelp to escape.

"Not so tough now, are we, little waterbender?" The boy hissed into her ear.

And then, suddenly, everything went black.

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**Sorry if the ending is a bit rushed. I wanted to finish it really badly, and its like 1:47 in the morning here and I JUST finished this chapter. I just didn't want to wait any longer. I hope you liked it! Tell me what you want to see in the future, and I'll consider it! **

**Review! **


	4. Book 1: Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! This update is quicker than the last simply because I just started writing it and didn't stop until I finished it! Wow, how unlike me! Haha. I've been mulling things over, and I've realized that this story is going to be very long how I'm picturing it. Once we get farther along in the story, I'm going to have a small poll on here, and you'll review telling me how long or short you want this story to be.**

**Guest: I wish I knew who you were, but thank you for commenting!**

**SammiRichGurl: Hey, I remember you! hehe. **

**PanicAtTheEpicness: I know! But that's because he looks so much better with a full head of hair, lol. The only reason he has his old hair cut is because he's still evil Zuko! **

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Katara's eyes fluttered open, the stench of body odor and sweat filling her nose. She gagged, horrified at the smell suddenly overwhelming her senses. Pinching her nose, Katara sat up and looked around. She was in a metal container just big enough for her to curl into a small ball on the floor. Katara stood, pressing her free hand against the cool metal wall to steady herself, her throat burning and itching from lack of water.

As her eyes adjusted and the world became more clear than blurry, Katara noticed a small barred window to the outside world level with her head. She grabbed at the bars, pressing her face up against them, breathing in fresh air.

"_Would it kill them to clean these things?" _Katara thought, swallowing her spit, itching for a drink of water.

After filling her lungs and clearing her mind with the clean air, Katara grew serious. She looked around the container she was in, guessing that it was only about four feet wide, and seven feet tall. Katara could just make out blood stains at the bottom from the small amount of light coming in through the bars. Shivering at the thought of who was in here last, Katara turned her attention outside.

It was about two or three in the afternoon from what she could tell. How long she had been unconscious was a mystery. As far as Katara could make out, she was on the back of a large wagon or carriage. They were not moving, however; perhaps the soldiers had decided to take a break. After all, why else would you stop in the middle of a road surrounded by a forest lasting as far as the eye could see?

"Katara?" came a soft whisper from somewhere outside of the metal box.

"Toph?" Katara croaked back, slightly confused.

"Took you long enough!" she hissed, "You've been out for two days! He didn't hit you _that_ hard."

"Who hit me?"

"Zuko."

"Who's Zuko?"

"The one who captured us." Toph muttered, "I've been listening to them talk. I can hear a lot better than most people," she explained quickly, "Apparently, this Zuko guy is the prince of the Fire Nation."

Katara's heart sank. The prince? _They were doomed_.

"But it seems like he's banished."

This cheered Katara up slightly, but not by much. A prince was a prince. She was positive he still had the authority to kill them whenever he felt like it.

"Why is he banished?" Katara asked.

"I'm not sure. But he sure has a temper." Toph giggled, "We hit a rock in the road, and one of the wheels got busted. I thought he was going to blast the man apart who told him they didn't have a spare."

"So… They're gone?"

"Three soldiers went ahead on the rhinos to the next town to get a new wheel. They left around an hour ago. I've been trying to get your attention ever since."

Katara nodded, beginning to look around the metal cage again, searching for a weak point, "Are you stuck in a metal box too?"

"Yeah. It's impossible to get out of, I've already tried." Toph said dejected.

Katara frowned, "Are you sure? There has to be some way. Nothing is perfect."

"I have no earth. You have no water. It's useless. I pounded away at it until my knuckles bled."

Katara smiled, "You're wrong Toph. I _do_ have water."

"What do you mean?" Toph asked slowly, "Did you smuggle in one of you water skins?"

Katara shook her head even though she knew Toph could not see her. Sticking her hand through the bars, Katara gently made flowing motions from her wrists to her fingers. After a few moments of concentration, Katara managed to bend the water from the air. A large smile spread across her lips, sticking her other hand out and dividing the water in half. After a moment of hesitation, Katara flung the water to where she guessed Toph's metal box was. A quiet gasp told her she hit her mark.

"How did you… What!" Toph whispered excitedly, "You have water!"

"Water is everywhere, Toph." Katara said cheerfully, sharing the lesson as she brought the water up to her lips, sipping at it before she continued, "In the air. Wildlife. Ice, of course. Clouds have water in them. Food has water in it. You just need to expand your mind to the possibilities."

"I think you've had too much time to think over the years, Katara."

Katara took another few sips, "It took me awhile to realize it. But the elements are just the root of everything. All around us, in everything we see or use, there is at least one basic element in it. Fascinating, isn't it?"

"I never thought about it that way before." Toph said slowly. Katara heard Toph slide down the side of her metal cell, deep in thought. Katara decided to let her mull it over as she finished off her water.

They never got the chance to resume their conversation, however. By the time Katara thought to ask Toph about anything else, she heard the soldier's returning.

"Ah! Prince Zuko, you have returned with the wheel, I presume?" said someone outside

"If your incapable eyes would have seen the rock in time, we would _not_ have had to go into town and gotten another, and we would _not_ be behind schedule. This wheel better be attached and ready to go by the time I am ready or there will be _severe_ consequences." Came a familiar voice. This had to be Prince Zuko, Katara noted.

He seemed friendly enough.

Footsteps came from the distance, approaching Katara and Toph. After a moment of jingling and clicking, Katara heard the door to Toph's cage open.

"Get out." Prince Zuko said bluntly, ignoring Toph's yells as she was ripped from the box, "Keep an eye on her." He commanded, and Katara heard Toph being handed off to another soldier and taken away.

"I bet you've never fought a little girl before, huh?" she heard Toph provokingly as she was taken away, "I bet I can take you with these cuffs on anyway! Get off of me!"

Katara rolled her eyes. She could just imagine what trouble Toph had gotten into with these soldiers over the past few days.

The same jingling and clicking came from her own metal box. The door vibrated for a moment and opened, letting in a burst of sunlight. Katara leaned against the back wall, shielding her eyes from the sudden light. When she finally adjusted, she saw the Prince standing just outside, both hands folded behind his back, waiting for her.

"I see you finally woke up." He said, a hint of impatience in his voice, "I'll give you the same speech I gave your little friend. Should you attempt to escape, I will not hesitate to kill you on sight. These are three inch thick metal cages," he continued, rubbing a hand over the edge of the door, "It is impossible to break through. Ask your friend, she tried for two hours last night."

Katara bit her lip, her fear slowly rising being in his presence. The look in his eyes. The scar. The intimidating way he stood. All of it frightened Katara, making her wish she was anywhere but there. Which she wanted even when he wasn't standing in front of her, but that wasn't the point.

"Do you understand?" he hissed, waiting for an answer.

Katara nodded quickly, avoiding the urge to fly past him into the forest.

Prince Zuko pulled out a pair of metal handcuffs, "You'll need to wear these when coming outside. If you don't, you'll stay in there for another three days, until we reach Omashu."

"Omashu? You're going to-"

"Silence!" The Prince yelled, raising a fist, "No questions! Are you going to wear them or not?"

Katara looked from the cuffs, to his angry face, and down to the cuffs again, "Y-yes…" she whispered.

"Very well." He said, trying to calm himself down, "Step out."

Katara's legs could hardly move. Whether it was from not walking for two days, or from practically passing out in fear, she wasn't entirely sure. However, after a moment of hesitation, she managed to stumble out of the cage and off the back of the wagon. As the banished prince attached the metal handcuffs tightly around her wrists, she looked around.

They were in the middle of nowhere it seemed, the only sign of human existence being the small dirt road they had been following. The wagon was made of a thinner metal than the cages, with chains attached to the small prisons that Toph and her had been trapped inside so that they would not fall off. There were six soldiers, two of them atop the wagon to steer the two rhinos dragging it along, one of them inside the wagon between the two metal boxes, and three other rhinos that would walk beside them, a soldier on each one. Right now, most of them were concentrated on fixing the broken wheel.

Katara grew nervous. All of this, just for a few thieves? This seemed a bit… much.

"This way." Prince Zuko said stiffly, dragging her along by the chain on her cuffs.

"Where are we going?"

He glanced back at her for a moment, "This is for your sake, not mine." He growled, leading her into the woods.

After walking around fifty feet in, he stopped beside a large tree and let go of the small chain. He looked around awkwardly for a moment before saying, "Go."

"Go?"

"Just… Go!" he snarled, arms folded, staring at a tree branch to the right.

Katara looked around, confused, "You want me to leave?"

"If you leave, I set the forest on fire and let you burn." He hissed, looking back at her, "You've been unconscious for two days. If you wish to relieve yourself in the small container you are imprisoned in, then be my guest."

Katara raised an eyebrow at him, "I've been unconscious in a pool of dried piss?"

"No! Well, I don't know what prisoners do back there!" he said quickly, throwing an arm out, "Just go or I'll bring you back now!"

Katara jumped, rushing behind the tree. A minute later, Katara felt much better. She peeked out from behind the tree once she was proper again, looking out to her bathroom buddy. The prince was still staring in the opposite direction, the slightest bit of red glowing on his cheeks.

He had no idea what he was doing, Katara realized. This boy was not about to burn down a forest in pursuit of a petty thief. Katara looked behind her. She could easily make a run for it, to try and escape while she still could. Her eyes widened at the idea of freedom, to run from this mess she had gotten herself in. Just as she was about to sneak away, something hit her.

Toph.

Her new traveling companion. The little blind girl. How could she leave Toph? Katara wanted to punch something. This is exactly why she had avoided making friends. All they did was get in the way, or cause you trouble or pain.

Just like Heyan. Katara instantly dropped that train of thought, however. She did not want to think of him right now. Or ever.

Katara abandoned the idea of escaping. She could never leave someone behind; Katara knew herself to well. It would eat her alive later, the idea of abandoning someone who needed her.

But didn't she promise herself that she would never bother herself with the needs of others? That she would only look after herself?

Toph was different though… Right? She was Katara's friend, almost. Toph never did anything wrong to Katara. Besides ruining her escape, that is. No. Katara would protect Toph. This would be her one and only exception.

Katara stepped back out from behind the tree. She stared at the ground as Prince Zuko took her by the elbow, leading her back to her small prison. As they stepped back out onto the road, Katara spotted Toph waiting next to her small metal box, two soldiers firmly grasping onto each of her shoulders.

"Hey, lovebirds! About time!" she laughed, raising her bound hands to the air in greeting. The soldiers instantly shoved them back down.

Katara felt the grip on her arm tighten as the prince's temper rose. Toph was thrown back into her cell, shackles removed. Prince Zuko left her to the soldiers to unbind and imprison her as he stalked back to his rhino. A few minutes later, they were off again.

"Hey, Toph." Katara said, grabbing the metal bars, trying to ignore the stench, "Did you know we're going to Omashu?"

"Yep. It's like an express ride. We'll get there ages before we ever could riding on those ostrich horses through the woods in who knows what direction." Toph replied happily, "But we lost all of our stuff. They sort of took what they wanted and sold the rest at huge prices to the town we took it from."

"Why were they even there? At the town, I mean."

"I'm not sure. They said something about looking for the Avatar."

Katara rolled her eyes, "I can't believe they thought one of us was it. The Avatar was an airbender. How stupid."

"Not anymore. They found his body a five or six years ago."

Katara froze. Did Toph just say the Avatar was _dead_?

"W-what?" Katara stuttered, "_Dead_?"

"Wow, you didn't hear about that? You _have_ been living under a rock, Katara!" she laughed, "A couple years ago, they found what was thought to be the last Avatar's body floating on a half melted ice sphere thing with a giant flying bison's remains. The only reason they think it was him was because he was wearing these airbender clothes and had a staff. And you know, the giant flying bison skeleton sort of hinted at it too."

Katara could hardly stand. The Avatar, the peacekeeper and spiritual guide of the world, dead. Who was the next Avatar? Her breathes came out quickly now; what if there was no new Avatar?

Why did Katara care so much? She hated the world after all. She shook the thoughts away.

"What happened to him?" she asked, clinging onto the bars for support.

"Nobody really knows," Toph said casually, "But they say he was only like, twelve."

"That's impossible!" Katara said, "He's been missing for almost a hundred years. He can't just be twelve."

"Some say he was frozen in it, and something happened to the giant ice cube that killed him." Toph explained, "It was only half melted after all, and in the shape of a giant ice ball."

Katara grabbed her pounding head in shock. She thought back to when she was a child, floating on a giant hunk of ice. Alone. Dying. The only reason she survived was because a fishing boat had found her… It seemed nobody had found this Avatar in time. She could almost imagine him, sitting there alone, starving and freezing to death…

"Wait." Katara said looking up sharply, "He was an airbender. Why didn't he just fly off? Or use his flying bison? They fly… Right?"

Katara could almost see Toph shrugging, "Don't know. All I know is that he's dead and gone. Isn't the next Avatar supposed to be a waterbender? Maybe that's why he thought you might be it."

Katara laughed, "That's impossible. You're funny, Toph."

"Yeah. We'd be doomed it you were the Avatar, Katara."

"Hey! What makes you say that?"

"You're so afraid all of the time. Of being caught, of settling down. You won't even tell me about yourself because you're afraid of what I'll think. You lie to people. Even me. I bet I'm the closest thing you've had to a friend in the past five or six years, maybe longer."

"I don't lie to you."

"I can feel your heartbeat, Katara. Everyone's pulse increases when they lie."

This bothered Katara. Not being able to lie to Toph. Not being able to keep a secret from someone was almost as if they were invading your private life. Katara sat down on the cool metal surface, resting her head against the wall. She felt every bump and turn in the road. Sighing at the thought of not being able to sleep because of this, Katara bended some water out of the air and began to play with it. She made small shapes and designs, practicing with her fingers, continuously teaching herself how the water moved and floated.

Eventually, Katara grew bored of this. She flicked her wrist and fingers up, freezing the water into a thin sheet of ice, creating a small mirror against the opposite wall. Katara grimaced at what she saw. Her hair was a mess, her face covered in what looked like dirt, and a bit of dried blood ran down the back of her neck.

She spent the next half hour or so gussying herself up. What else was there for her to do? Sing a song, do a little dance? Katara only sang when she was alone, and there wasn't even enough room to dance if she even wanted to. Once Katara finished, she looked pleasantly clean again. Her hair was now combed down with her fingers and water, hair loopies in the right places, and her face washed clean of anything that was not her skin.

"Katara?" Toph whispered through the bars.

Katara stood up, pressing her face against the bars, "Yeah?"

"Remember what you said about the elements?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I think I know what you were talking about." She said triumphantly.

"Uhm, okay. That's good." Katara said, slightly confused.

"I'll let you know when the time is right." Toph said.

"What?"

No answer came.

Katara shrugged, leaning back against the wall. It was growing dark outside now, and a couple minutes later, an apple and a piece of bread was sent in through the bars. Katara quickly caught them before they fell onto the disgusting ground with the suspicious stains and smells. As she ate her small dinner, which was actually better than most she has had in her lifetime, Katara watched the moon stars come out through the openings in the window. She smiled, feeling a bit safer.

After drinking the water that her small mirror was made of, Katara curled up against a corner, shut her eyes, and attempted to sleep through the bumps and thuds that came from the walls around her. She sighed, rested her head on her knees, and slowly drifted off.

_A tiny, itty bitty little ringing filled Katara's ears. She jolted awake, opening her eyes to find she was no longer in the small metal box, but in a large, open forest. _

_Katara blinked a few times, clearing the sleep from her eyes. Was she seeing this right? Where was Toph? The prince? She looked around, seeing nobody. Everything was foggy, a small, almost blue mist as far as she could see._

"_Hello?" Katara called out shakily, "Toph?" _

_She stood up slowly, turning around and around, growing more anxious by the moment. She didn't know what to do, so she did the only thing she could think of. Katara abandoned all thought; she began to run. Katara sprinted off, confused and afraid, her footsteps completely silent on the ground below her. _

_Trees whizzed past her. Katara ducked and dodged them as she flew by, her hair dancing behind her, never looking back. The ringing began to grow louder in her ears. As she ran, the more clearly she could hear it. Suddenly, as if someone flicked on a switch, she knew what it was._

_Voices. All around her. Talking to her._

"_Oh, child!"_

"_Look at her run!"_

"_Dear, oh dear, what is going on?"_

"_Haha!"_

"_Poor thing."_

"_Hmph!"_

"_What in the world does she think she's doing?"_

"_I knew it!"_

_Katara screamed, covering her ears with her hands, never halting her escape. The voices only grew louder and louder. Katara began to sob, tears flowing down her cheeks. _

_Suddenly, she broke through the tree line. Katara was running not through, but away from the mysterious forest now. Before she had the chance to wonder where she was going, Katara fell. Straight off of the end of the world. _

_Katara's eyes widened, arms and legs flaring around. She ran straight off of the edge; nothing was below her but darkness. She screamed and screamed, unable to control herself. Katara covered her eyes, begging the voices to stop, for the dark to be light, and for a chance to go back. _

"_Hi!" Came a cheerful voice from behind her._

_Katara peaked through her hands. She was standing, her feet placed firmly on the ground. Dropping her hands to her waist, she looked around. All she could see was a thick white mist and white sky. Katara turned around hesitantly, panting and gasping, tears still rolling down her cheeks._

_Her eyes widened. She stepped back, shocked._

"_Y-you?" She whispered._

* * *

**_DUN DUN _**

**__Review and tell me who you think it was! Hehehehehee. **

**Also, tell me when/how you would like to see other characters from the series to be introduced! I love readers input. **

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**-evil stare-**


	5. Book 1: Chapter 5

**I'd apologize for not writing anything for awhile, but I am really upset that I didn't get the amount of reviews that I wanted. I was waiting and waiting, but five reviews did not come. -shrug-**

**Five people can EASILY comment on this story. So many people have favorited and followed this story already, and I am so happy you did. Why are you not commenting? When you leave a review, it makes me SO happy and inspires me to write more. If you don't review, I don't feel inspired, and the longer it takes to write a new chapter. If you want more, you guys are going to have to review. End of story.**

**redridinghood101: Thank you! Good guess, read to see!**

**SammiRichGurl: Ahahahaha not quite! And good, I love story stalkers!**

**Guest: Thank you! Good guess!**

**kutsky: Thanks! I hope its original. I haven't read to many ATLA fan fics, so I don't really know what other people have written besides like Katara and Zuko pairings lmao.**

* * *

_Her eyes widened. She stepped back, shocked._

"_Y-you?" She whispered. _

Katara screamed herself awake, head flying off of her knees, eyes wide. She grasped at her wildly beating heart, gasping and panting, sweat covering her body.

The wagon pulled to a sudden stop. A few yells were heard, voices arguing as people began to shuffle around outside.

"Katara?" Toph hissed, "Are you okay?"

Katara could hardly process Toph's words. All she could think about was the dream. The forest, the fear. And then the end… She could not for the life of her remember who had spoken to her. However, Katara couldn't think about that now; loud footsteps were marching outside of her metal box, keys jingling and clicking. Suddenly, the door opened, revealing the orange sky of a new day covered by three soldiers, the prince in the middle, holding the door open.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, eyes squinting at her.

Katara tried to back even closer to the wall she was leaning against, "N-nothing.." she panted, eyes darting around the box, "Just… A bad dream."

The prince looked unconvinced. He made an angry growl and walked away, leaving the soldiers to slam the door shut and lock it again. Katara sighed with relief, wiping the sweat from her face. Of all the dreams she had, this had to be the strangest. And the most realistic.

"Katara?" Toph whispered, concerned.

She didn't respond. Instead, Katara stood up, grabbing at the bars and staring out to the world outside of her prison. As she stared off to the rising sun, Katara concentrated on the dream. No matter how she looked at it, she knew that it was not just an ordinary nightmare. It was almost as if it was a vision. Or a message? She sighed, shaking her head, realizing how crazy it sounded.

Out of the corner of the window, Katara noticed the prince's rhino drifting slowly back towards them. She frowned, watching him as he took position directly behind the metal boxes. He looked from Toph's box to hers, and then back again before staring directly ahead, between the two cages. Katara raised an eyebrow.

"So, why are you heading to Omashu?" Katara asked slowly.

The prince's head snapped to her, glaring slightly, "None of your concern."

"Well, considering we're being taken there…"

"I said it was none of your concern!" he yelled, slashing an arm to the side. Katara winced, slipping back into the shadows of her metal box, making it much more difficult for him to see the fear burning in her eyes.

The prince dropped his hand back to the reins and said in a calmer voice, "You and your friend will be released to the Omashu guards as thieves. They will deal with you accordingly."

"I'm pretty sure they cut off your hands." Toph said jokingly from within her cage. Katara's eyes widened as she looked down to her hands. She certainly did not want to lose any of her limbs.

"Uhm." Katara said, approaching the window again, "Maybe you could just release us into the city? We aren't exactly thieves. We're just travelers, and happened to have run out of money…"

"It is no concern of mine." He replied, looking through the bars to her. The prince sighed, "What's your name?"

"Katara." She said, inching back over to the window.

"Well, Katara, I'll think about it." the prince said, fixing the reins in his hands, "I may be able to help you."

With that, the prince ushered his rhino past the cages and closer to the front of the pack.

"Did you hear that, Toph?" Katara whispered excitedly, "He may let us go!"

"Yeah, yeah. I don't believe him." She spat, "Listen to me, Katara. We can't trust them. They're fire nation remember."

"I suppose you're right." Katara agreed, slightly upset.

The day passed by slowly. Katara practiced with her waterbending, eventually just forming it into a small round sphere of ice and playing with it. She made up a small game that she could play with herself, throwing it out of the window and bending it back. Katara made it fly all around the small container, weaving it through the bars, in and out and around.

"Impressive," came the prince's voice from outside, "But not nearly as much if you were actually trying to escape."

Katara dropped the ice ball as it was going through the bars, and heard it shatter outside. She stood up, hearing the familiar jingle of the keys unlocking her door. As they opened, a slightly amused Prince Zuko was standing there, holding out the handcuffs. Katara raised an eyebrow at him, descended the wagon, and allowed him to bind her hands.

"You know," Katara said, watching Toph being dragged off into the woods opposite of them, "You don't need to be so rough with Toph. She's just a kid."

"You are not much older than her." The prince replied, leading her by the shoulder into the forest.

Katara looked up at him, "You're not much older than me!"

He rolled his eyes, giving an annoyed huff. They walked deeper into the woods this time, ending up almost eighty feet away from the road. Katara shuffled off behind the tree, did her thing, contemplated running off into the forest while a red faced Zuko was looking the other way, and slowly walked back to him. She yet again abandoned the idea, except this time for a different reason. Katara desperately wanted to believe that this prince would let them go, despite the fact that Toph had told her otherwise.

"Are you-"

A burst of flames erupted over the tree tops. Katara gasped, watching the small explosion. The prince rolled his eyes.

"Your friend has been causing more trouble." He said briskly, grabbing her elbow and rushing her back to the road. Katara struggled to keep up with his pace, tripping every so often on an unseen root or rock.

"Toph!" she yelled as they broke through the tree line.

Toph was struggling against the guards pinning her down on the road, screaming curses and threats at them left and right. Katara sighed; Toph just couldn't stay out of trouble. Why didn't she understand that they had a chance to escape this? To simply be let free rather than condemned as criminals?

The Prince escorted her over to them, removing her cuffs and allowing her to sit at the end of the wagon to watch them bind Toph's hands and feet. She continuously screamed and struggled, not going down without a fight. Just as they were about to throw her into the cage, Toph head butted the guard holding her, causing him to drop her to the ground with a loud _thud_.

Katara covered her face, shaking her head as Toph let loose an impressive earth bending fight with the guards using only her head and bound feet. However, it was a pointless battle, and soon they had her under control and locked into the metal cage again. As soon as the door was locked, Prince Zuko looked over to Katara who was still sitting patiently at the edge of the wagon, arms crossed and an upset look on her face.

He shuffled a bit awkwardly for a moment before saying, "I'll get you something to eat." and walked off to his rhino. After searching through his bag for a few moments, he returned with two peaches and gave one of them to her before sitting down beside her.

Katara looked at the peach, then up to the prince, and down again. She slowly took a bite, a bit confused as to why she was eating with him.

"So, not a thief, huh?" he said, his voice calm and relaxed.

"No, we're not." Katara said quickly, looking over to him. She looked at his scar; it completely consumed the left side of his face. The Prince looked over to Katara, catching her staring at it. She felt her face grow red, and suddenly found the dirt below her feet quite fascinating.

"I find it hard to believe your friend isn't, but I think I can do something for you. Katara, is it?"

"Yes. Katara."

"My name is Zuko."

"Nice to officially meet the man imprisoning me." Katara said sarcastically, taking a large bite from her peach.

"It's not like I had a choice!" he said, suddenly quite angry. Katara jumped, leaning a bit away from him. Zuko calmed himself down, sighing, "You are a very skilled waterbender. It would be a waste to have your hands crushed. I can offer you this; I am looking for a small, elite team to look for the Avatar. Running around with these buffoons is getting me nowhere." He said, looking around at the soldiers behind them, "I need to be stealthy. I can't do that when I'm travelling with rhinos and two prisoners."

"Here is what I'm proposing." He said, turning to Katara. She looked back, staring into his eyes, noticing the fear and excitement that were being hidden away, "You join me in my hunt for the Avatar, and I won't let anyone imprison or harm you."

Katara's eyes widened. She looked down to the peach, heart racing. The last time she had been a part of a serious group, she had been hurt in more ways than one. Memories of Heyan and her old friends flashed before her eyes, running around together, causing trouble in the small earth kingdom town that she had lived in for almost seven months a few years ago. How could she do something like this after what had happened? And on such a serious level? How could she trust a man who had seen her as nothing but a thief at one point?

Katara looked back to him, his one eyebrow slightly raised, expecting an answer. She bit her lip, weighing her options.

"If I go with you, how long will I have to stay?"

"Until we find the Avatar." Zuko said quickly, as if it was obvious.

Katara nodded slowly, "And I won't be turned over?"

"Yes." He said, growing a bit impatient.

"What about Toph?"

Zuko looked over to the other cage, then back to her, "She is far too much of a risk. The girl has already proven she's a loose cannon."

Katara nodded slowly, "Okay." She whispered.

"Excellent!" Zuko said, his eyes lighting up for a moment, "When we reach Omashu, it will only be the three of us."

"Three?"

"We are meeting with my Uncle in Omashu. He will be coming with us as well." He said, climbing off of the wagon and shutting the cage door, locking it, "He has been with me since I… left home. He decided to go a separate path and meet with us in Omashu."

Katara nodded, looking over to Toph's cage, guilt invading her mind.

"You can travel on the rhinos now; you are no longer a prisoner." Zuko said, walking off. "You! Share his mount, we need a free one. We leave in ten minutes."

Katara watched him walk off before quickly walking over to Toph's cage.

"Toph?" She whispered.

No response.

"Please, Toph, I'm sorry!"

Nothing.

Katara's eyes filled with tears. How could she betray her only friend? She was so selfish and afraid…

"T-Toph… I… I'll help you escape tonight!" she whispered anxiously, walking closer to the cage, "I-I'll give you word when people aren't looking! I'll get the keys!"

A long silence passed. Just as Katara thought that she would get no response, a small voice came, "I don't need the keys."

"Toph… I didn't mean to just abandon you… I told you to not do anything.."

"I know, Katara. It's okay. I guess it's better this way, right?"

"No, it's not! I wish you could come with us!"

"Eh, I'd rather wander the woods forever than team up with that hissy fit."

Tears came to Katara's eyes at the thought of Toph walking through the woods, completely alone, with only her thoughts for company.

"M-Maybe I'll see you again one day!" she cried softly, "W-We should meet up, yeah?"

"Where, Katara? That's impossible."

Katara sniffed, "You know, you were my first friend in a long time, Toph. I… I just…"

"I know, Katara."

"Uhm…" Katara whispered, checking to make sure nobody was around still, "Maybe… Ba Sing Se? You should go there. I'm sure we will eventually go there, right?"

"I'll try."

"Katara?" Zuko called, "We're about to go."

"Coming!" Katara called out. She turned back to the cage and said under her breath, "I will get you out of this Toph. I promise." She pushed her hardly eaten peach in through the bars before turning away, leaving her friend behind.

_Why does life seem to hate me? _Katara thought_, Every time I open up… Every time I try… Someone gets hurt._

"This one is yours until we reach Omashu." Zuko said, waving a hand to the rhino, "It has some supplies in its bags for you."

_Why even bother making new connections? No matter what I do, it never ends right._

"We ride through the night. Are you ready to depart?"

_I'm ready to die. This life is pointless. What can I possibly offer the world? I'm an outcast. Damaged and broken past repair. Why me? Why does misfortune always find ME? _

Katara nodded, climbing onto the rhino, eyes set dead ahead.

_Nobody _really_ wants me. Nobody _actually_ needs me. All I've done in this life is bring hurt and pain. My home. My family. My allies. My Toph. _

The group began to move, each person easing their mounts forward and continuing down the road. Katara looked down to her hands, reins tangled in her fingers. What did Toph have? Shackles binding her limbs.

She thought back to the beginning. Where did she go wrong? Katara could barely remember the soldiers invading her home, destroying everything she cared about. She could remember floating on a chunk of ice, somehow escaping. Why did she survive? How could the world choose her to live and so many others to die? Why did fate doom her to such a horrid existence, condemning her to solitude?

She didn't really know what happened to her small southern water tribe. Katara had no idea how many had actually died, and how many had actually lived. All she knew was that she had been so afraid… And then suddenly alone. Somehow she knew she had fled from them, abandoned them. She knew it in her heart. How could she return to them now? To return and see the damage that they had done, the damage that she should have been there for.

Katara could feel Zuko's eyes on the back of her head, but she ignored them. She began to picture the shame in her father's eyes, seeing his daughter ally with fire nation, until she realized that she could hardly remember what her father actually looked like. Katara frantically began to search her mind, searching for memories of her parents or brother, but none appeared. It was as if she had completely erased them from her mind. She gripped the reins tightly, willing the tears back.

The group traveled through the night, just as Zuko said. Just as Katara began to doze off, her head snapped up, suddenly remembering she had to break Toph out. Katara wanted to slap herself; she had almost forgotten her promise to Toph.

Katara looked around. Almost all of the soldiers were either staring ahead in a daze, or snoozing on the backs of their rhinos. Glancing behind her, she saw that Zuko had his arms folded across his chest, head fallen over his neck, fast asleep. Katara raised an eyebrow. What excellent security they had.

Katara gently eased herself off of the moving rhino, urging it forward after it stopped for a minute, slightly confused as to why it's passenger was leaving. She silently climbed aboard the wagon, creeping over to Toph's metal box.

"Toph." She said, barely audible, "You're clear."

Katara heard movement from within the box. Kneeling next to the door, Katara whispered, "I'll go get the key."

"No." Toph hissed, "Wait."

"What are you-"

The next moment, Toph's hands dove through the space in between the door and walls. Toph froze, the noise echoing through the night. Katara, stunned, simply stared at the pair of small hands now slicing up and down the small gap, widening it enough for the young earthbender to climb her way out.

"T-Toph…"

"No time to awe." She whispered quickly, looking around, "But I suppose you taught me something that I can never repay."

"I didn't teach you that!" Katara hissed, pointing to the giant hole in the door.

"No, you made me see that it was possible when you told me how all of the elements were around us." Toph said with a smile, "I've been dying to show you. It took a lot of work, but I guess I didn't have much else to do sitting around in a giant metal box."

Tears came to Katara's eyes. She grabbed her small friend, hugging her tightly, not willing to let her go.

"Katara. I need to go." Toph squeaked through the death grip.

"I know. I'm sorry." Katara said releasing her, "And I'm sorry about all of this. Maybe it would be better if we had never met."

"Hey. I don't regret meeting you, Katara."

Katara smiled at her, "I wish I could tell you how much you mean to me."

"Tell me in Ba Sing Se." Toph said, punching her in the shoulder, "This isn't goodbye."

And with that, Toph leapt from the moving wagon, diving into the ground below them as if it were water, leaving Katara without a friend yet again.

She sat there for awhile, watching the spot where Toph had disappeared until it vanished into the night. Katara let out a long sigh, rubbed her tired eyes, and stood up with a small frown. After catching up with her rhino, she looked around to make sure nobody had woken up during the daring escape, and finally settled down. She rested her head against the rhino's neck, slowly shutting her eyes, letting the rhythmic movements of the creature's shoulders rock her to sleep.

_Katara yelled out in fear, finding herself back in the white. Yet again, she saw nothing but the pale color wherever she turned. _

"_Why am I here?!" She yelled out to the void. _

"_Why wouldn't you be here?" came a familiar voice from behind her. _

_Katara whipped around, seeing the same figure from before. Her eyes widened, knees growing weak._

"_I don't understand." She said to the boy, "Who… Are you?"_

"_You know you I am, Katara." The boy said laughing, "Don't push me away."_

_Katara looked the boy up and down. He was surely the only twelve year old that was bald and had arrow tattoos. She bit her lip, examining the orange and yellow clothing, the wooden staff he held, the playful smile on his lips._

"_You… Are the Avatar?" Katara whispered cautiously. _

"_I was."_

"_But you're dead."_

"_My name is Aang!" he said with a smile, taking a few steps towards her. _

_Katara backed away, "You're dead." She repeated, "I'm dreaming of dead people. Dead people I don't even know."_

"_You know me, Katara. As well as I know you."_

"_You don't know me! And I don't know you at all!"_

_Aang smiled, shaking his head, "You don't understand."_

"_No, I don't!" Katara yelled, "I don't understand anything that has happened to me! Ever!"_

_Aang continued to walk towards her, Katara continuously backing away, "Let me explain, Katara."_

_Everything went black. Aang disappeared, leaving nothing but a voice in his wake. Katara gasped, looking around but seeing nothing, her feet suddenly echoing off of the ground she could not feel._

"_When I died, Katara, you were born."_

_A crying baby appeared in front of Katara causing her to jump. She looked at it, floating before her, covered in a blanket that the child kept kicking off. It's screams filled the empty space, completely engulfing Katara's senses. _

"_Of all of the children in the water nation, Katara, _you_ were the one to be infused with the lives of all of the previous Avatars, including myself."_

_Katara dropped down to her knees, eyes widening as she began to understand._

"_Katara, YOU are the new Avatar."_

_The child began to grow before her eyes. It was her. Katara was watching herself grow into a small toddler. It laughed at her, pointing and waving at her grown self. The small figure jumped up and down, life and excitement brimming on the edge of her eyes, eager and willing._

"_I know your pain, Katara."_

_A burst of flames erupted around small Katara. Tears began to form in the child's eyes, and it reached out to Katara's kneeling form. It began to cry and yell, all of the life and adventure that was once in her had disappeared._

"_Your village was attacked when you were young. It has been decades since an Avatar was faced with such violence at such a young age. If you were any other child, you would have perished that day in the hands of the fire nation."_

_A soldier came up behind the child. He grasped the back of her water tribe coat, lifting her high above Katara's head. Tears began to fall as she looked up to watch her small, limp form as the soldier's grip tightened, drawing a fiery hand close to her face as screams echoed around them. _

"_But you weren't a normal child, Katara. You still aren't. You're the Avatar."_

_The child's head suddenly shot up, eyes glowing. A dominant, merciless, blank expression replaced the fear and pain._

"_This was the youngest an Avatar had taken on the Avatar state, the defensive mechanism installed into our bodies when we're in lethal danger." _

_Katara's eyes widened as she watched herself bend a large air spout, shooting herself into the air and hovering far above the soldier. Eight soldiers appeared out of the darkness, surrounding Katara and the vision of herself. Katara watched as the small child took them on, slamming herself into the ground and shooting off a large wind gust, causing the soldiers to fly back. Her small body somehow managed to suck the water from the snow around her, blocking and slashing at the soldiers that kept coming at her. Eventually, Katara watched herself raise her hands out, then thrusting them to the sky, creating a large cloud of steam around her. She then jumped fifty feet into the air, raised her hands to her mouth, and blew out a freezing gust. As the dust cleared, the soldiers were frozen in place, and little Katara was nowhere to be seen._

"_You unconsciously saved yourself that day."_

_Katara simply stared at the spot where the child had once stood, shocked. _

"_I'm dreaming." Katara whispered, "This isn't real." She said a little louder, "You're lying to me! This is all fake!" she screamed, standing up. Katara grabbed at her hair, pulling and gasping, unable to comprehend._

_Aang appeared before her, a strange look on his face._

_Katara pointed to him, opening her mouth to scream and yell, to defy logic, to deny fate and destiny or any other unseen force playing with her life. But nothing came out. As much as she tried to utter a single word, not a squeak came._

"_You'll find me when you're ready." Aang said sadly._

_With a small gust of wind, he was gone._

* * *

**I couldn't decide what to do with this chapter because I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep Toph along longer or not, and what was I going to do with her, and how I was going to get progress on the whole Katara and Zuko stuff... So I, after several re writes and re writes came to this for that whole thing. I hope I made the right choice lol.**

**How did you like the dream? I wasn't sure it was good enough, but I figured I might as well go with it. It's mostly to get the story going since we're on chapter five lolz. **

**Speaking of progress. How long do you guys want this story to last? I know for a fact I want several "Books". How many would you be willing to read? Should I do completely separate stories for them? How long should this be going on for? Would you be willing to go along with her as she trains in all of the elements? How do you want other characters to be introduced? **

**Let me know in reviews! **


	6. Book 1: Chapter 6

**Hello everyone! Sorry for the late update... I am starting to get really busy with procrastination of summer school work, my job, and now colorguard is starting up again. But, alas, here is a nice long chapter for the long wait!**

**redridinghood101: I love your ideas! Thank you so much! You actually helped me out haha.**

**Sammy Taylor: Hehe, I should have made it less obvious!**

**SammiRichGurl: Maybe. I'm thinking more along the lines of two books now. One for development, and one for badass ness? Maybe!**

* * *

Katara shot up, gasping for air. Yells and pounding feet invaded her mind, forcing her away from the dream. She shook her head, blinking rapidly as she shooed the vision away. It took her a moment to settle her mind before examining the scene unfolding around her.

The fire nation soldiers were in a fit. They marched around the immediate area, searching and looking for something they obviously could not find. Katara raised an eyebrow before unwrapping her hands from her rhino's reins, which had now turned white from her gripping them so hard during the night. After jumping off of the large animal she casually walked to the back of the wagon, rubbing her hands and wrists as she moved, only to find the Prince and several soldiers examining Toph's handiwork.

"How could this happen?"

"I have no idea…"

"It's as if she just burst right through it!"

"That's impossible. She's an _earthbender_, not a canon."

Prince Zuko turned to her as she approached, his single eyebrow raised at her, obviously suspicious. Fear instantly rose inside of her, but she suppressed it with every ounce of will she had. Rather, Katara very slowly inched her own eyebrow up in response, silently daring him to accuse her of the crime.

Katara had never stood up to someone like him before, but she knew if she backed down now, he would certainly know it was her. And besides, even if he did know, what would he do to her? The Prince already initiated her into his little fighting group. She was already practically on his leash. What more could he want? Katara was sure that he didn't want to simply give her up after revealing his plans to her. This thought gave Katara a bit more confidence; she quickly folded her arms over her chest before speaking.

"That's a pretty big hole for such a little girl." She said with a small smirk.

Zuko huffed angrily at her, a bit of steam coming from his nose. He turned to the soldiers, "She's long gone by now! Round up the men. We continue to Omashu in ten minutes." He yelled before turning on his heel and storming back to his rhino, his long pony tail swinging behind him. Katara instantly relaxed, following him a few feet in tow.

"You know," Katara said, growing a bit cocky at her escape from punishment, "If you can't keep an eleven year old in a _reinforced_ metal cage, how do you expect to keep me here, all out in the open?" she said smugly.

Zuko suddenly whirled around, catching Katara by surprise. He snatched her wrists up, pulling her close until her face was an inch away from his, "_Do I need to tie you up again_?" he hissed quietly.

Katara's eyes widened, her knees going a bit weak. She stared into the Prince's narrowed eyes; they were practically on fire with anger and humiliation. She gazed over to his scar; the skin obviously had been burned to the point of no repair. Katara wanted to shudder at the thought of what had caused it, or how much he must have suffered. Zuko had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep; his skin was full of stress lines and wrinkles. This was no man to mess with.

Katara slowly shook her head, lowering her gaze to the ground. Her cheeks were practically on fire when he finally threw her hands away and walked back to his mount. Katara rubbed her wrists slowly as she watched his retreat, wondering what had caused him to be so cruel and unforgiving at such a young age.

Deciding to pretend that nothing had happened, Katara walked over to her designated rhino and searched through the bags for something to eat. She eventually found a small pear and decided to patiently sit on top of her mount, munching on her breakfast, waiting for the soldiers to take off again. It didn't take long. After everyone had regained their composure, the group set off down the road again with Omashu just a few hours away.

Katara sighed as time went by. She wondered how Toph was fairing out by herself again. Was she safe? Warm? Could she have gotten lost? How would she find her way to Ba Sing Se? How was she going to convince Zuko to go there? She would have to try to get him to think that the Avatar was hiding out within its walls…

Katara nervously played with her hair, suddenly remembering her dream.

"_Katara, YOU are the new Avatar."_

She peeked a glance at Zuko. He was staring straight ahead, back straight, unmoving. If what her… Vision… of the old Avatar, Aang, was true, what was she going to do? She was a part of a team that was searching for _her_.

But she wasn't the Avatar. Of course not. That was impossible.

But if she _was_…

Surely then the safest place to be from someone searching for you is right behind them, right? Perhaps she could simply act like she wasn't the Avatar. Because she wasn't, of course, so that would be easy. Just act normal. Non-Avatar like. Ha! Her, the Avatar. That was a preposterous idea. How foolish. Katara had never bended anything but water in her entire life.

Her mind shot back to seeing her younger self take on the Avatar form, easily bending air as well as water on a master level. Katara shook her head. She was dreaming of course. People had weird dreams all of the time doing impossible things. It was nothing out of the ordinary.

But twice in a row? It seemed a little _too_ much of a coincidence.

Katara continued to mull over things as the hours went by. Before she knew it, or had come to any sort of conclusion, she was yanked out of her mind and into the rocky hills before they reached Omashu. As they went around a sharp bend in the road, the hills opened up to the long narrow path that led up to Omashu.

Katara gasped at the view; it was beautiful. The city was huge, larger than anything Katara had ever seen. It was as if the city itself was a large mountain that had been shaped and formed from the rock around it. It was fantastic; Katara could hardly keep the excitement off of her face. The mountain range and bright blue sky gave the perfect background. Nothing surrounded the large earth kingdom city, and the road was the only way in as far as Katara could tell.

She looked over to Zuko, whose face was expressionless, "Are we even allowed in?" she asked, "You're fire nation after all. You tend to have bad manners in non-fire nation towns."

"We're here on peaceful terms." Zuko replied steadily as the group managed to form into two straight lines side by side to cross the bridge, he himself walking next to Katara as they moved along, "They have no reason to not let us in."

Katara shrugged, "They will be suspicious." She warned.

"That is no concern of mine."

"What are you going to tell them?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?" Zuko asked roughly, glaring at her.

Katara turned from him, facing straight ahead. Perhaps accepting his arrangement was a bad idea. If this Prince got upset so easily, what was stopping him from blowing up and taking his anger out on her? Zuko immediately seemed much more dangerous to Katara.

As they approached the guards at the gate, many of them instantly turned to a defensive stance, calling for them to stop where they were. Zuko sighed, jumping off of his rhino. After a moment's thought, he turned to Katara.

"Come with me."

"What?" she said, slightly startled.

"_Get off of the rhino _and _come with me_." He repeated, "They will feel less at risk if they see we are traveling with a waterbender."

Katara looked down at her black shirt and deep red pants, "How on earth will they know I'm a waterbender? I'm not even wearing water nation clothing."

"Stop questioning everything and do as I say!" he demanded.

Katara sighed, jumping off of the rhino. She walked with Zuko to the middle of the no-man's-land on the bridge on his right side. As they stopped, a few of the guards and the captain approached cautiously.

"Why are you here?" The guard captain demanded, looking from Zuko to Katara.

"Just stopping in to resupply and meeting with some others." Zuko replied bluntly, "We mean you no harm."

The captain raised an eyebrow at him, "Looks like you got a few prisoners in tow." He said, motioning to the cages.

"Not anymore. If you would please let us through, we will be out of your city by dusk."

"Hmmm…" the captain said scratching his beard, "You'll need to keep your rhinos and wagon outside. No room for them in the streets. And I'm sure you wouldn't mind if we _escorted_ you to wherever you need to go, yes?" the captain said, motioning to the guards to raise the gate.

"Of course not." Zuko said through his teeth, slightly annoyed at this hindrance.

"Very well… Until nightfall." The captain said walking away, leaving the soldiers there to escort them.

Zuko walked back to the rhinos, leaving Katara with the soldiers as he explained the situation to the group they had been travelling with. She stood there awkwardly among the tall, beefy earthbenders, noticing that they were looking at her in the same weird way that the other people had back in the town she and Toph had been captured at. Katara looked down at herself, thinking that she had something on her, but found nothing out of the ordinary. She frowned, glancing around, getting a bit uneasy at this staring.

"Uhm… Hi?" Katara said awkwardly, giving them a weird little wave accompanied with an uncomfortable laugh.

"Hi!" One of them replied from behind her.

Katara turned to face him. The soldier was no older than seventeen. He wore the same dark green leather armor as the other soldiers, the earth kingdom mark plastered across his chest and a long round hat sitting atop his head. The boy tilted it back slightly, giving her a better look at his face. He had short brown hair, deep green eyes, and the biggest smile Katara had ever seen. She instantly felt herself blush when she realized that he was… _hot_. His jaw line was defined, his skin a deep olive complexion, and was an entire foot taller than Katara.

"Uhm… Aren't you a little young to be a soldier?" Katara asked nervously.

"Aren't _you_ a little young to be travelling with a fire nation squad?" he asked, leaning forward.

Katara leaned back slightly, feeling a bit uncomfortable, "I'm pretty good at what I do." She stated sharply.

"Well, I'm pretty good at what _I_ do." He responded.

"What _do_ you do?" Katara asked a bit defensively, "Sit on a wall all day? Wait around for some fire nation to come on by?"

The boy leaned back, folding his arms over his chest, "What do _you_ do all day, burn down villages with your bare hands? Pleasure your companions?" he said with a huff.

Katara gasped, "How dare you accuse me of that! I'm a waterbender for your information!" Katara said, jabbing her finger into his chest, "And why in the world would you say I'm a prostitute!"

The boy looked surprised, "Well, you're kind of hot. And the only woman in the group as far as I can tell. And how would I know you're a waterbender? You're with a bunch of fire nation soldiers, dressed in red, with no real reason to be there."

"Well, you have no business knowing why I'm here!"

"Well, you have no business knowing why _I'm_ here!"

"That makes no sense." Katara said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't need to make sense!" the boy said as he refolded his arms.

The two stared at each other for a few moments, the rest of the soldiers around them watching the entire time.

"I'm Renek." The boy finally said, suddenly smiling brightly and shaking Katara's hand roughly with both of his, "You're pretty cool."

Katara froze for a moment, completely and utterly lost at how the conversation had lead to him suddenly thinking she was…. Cool.

"Uh. I'm Katara." She replied, slowly removing her hand from his intense hand shaking.

"Awesome name. Very water tribe ish." Renek said, snapping his fingers and pointing at her.

"Uh, right."

"Well, maybe if you're around for a bit, I'll show you around." Renek said, putting an over Katara's shoulders and slowly leading her off towards the gate, throwing his free hand out to the sky, "Omashu is a pretty awesome place, if you know where to go." he said with a suggestive wink.

"Don't you have escorting to do?" Came an angry Zuko, grabbing onto Katara's elbow and pulling her out of Renek's grasp. Katara stumbled along, trying to keep up with Zuko's pace, a little relieved to be rescued from the overly friendly earth bending soldier. Renek and the other soldiers quickly caught up, along with three fire nation soldiers coming along for the trip.

"Hey, man, give a dude a break!" Renek said, walking directly behind the two of them.

They walked around the city for half an hour (with Zuko never releasing his death grip on Katara's elbow, and occasionally giving Renek a death glare) until they came to a small tea shop. As they walked inside, Zuko released Katara, allowing her to walk beside him as they approached a table near the back where an old man and two fire nation soldiers rested.

"Uncle." Zuko said calmly, giving him a small bow of respect.

"Ah, Zuko!" the old man cried, abandoning his tea and giving his nephew a hug, "What a pleasant surprise!"

"You were expecting me Uncle. How is this a surprise?" Zuko asked slightly confused.

"Not with a beautiful young lady!" he said cheerfully, waving over to Katara. Katara blushed slightly, giving the old man a small smile, "What a lovely girl you have found yourself!"

"We aren't… _Together_, Uncle!" Zuko said angrily.

"Yeah!" Said Renek, leaning against the wall next to the table.

Zuko glared at him, "She is to be a part of the team we discussed before we parted."

His Uncle's face dropped slightly, "Ah, Zuko, you need to open your heart! Look at her, she looks so charming! If you focus so much of your energy towards finding the Avatar," he said wisely as he sat back down, motioning for Katara to sit across from him at the table, "you will never be able to find the most important thing in life. Love!"

Katara wanted to burst out laughing as she joined the Prince's Uncle's at the table, "You are very wise." Katara said as she accepted the tea from a waiter, "But I don't think locking me up in a smelly metal cage is in my top three best first dates."

Renek burst out laughing, "You were a prisoner? Didn't tell me that."

The Uncle's eyes widened, "Zuko! You had this young lady as a prisoner? How shameful!"

"Tell me about it." Katara murmured over her tea cup as she drank.

Zuko glared at her, "You forgot to mention the part where you are not only a thief, but a skilled waterbender who tried to take me out when I confronted you." He said in defense, resting his hands on the table, giving her a death glare.

Katara felt perfectly safe near the earthbender soldiers, as well as his Uncle. So safe in fact that rather than shrinking back, she gave him a sly smirk and said, "_You_ forgot to mention the fact that you almost lost to a girl if you didn't have backup."

"There were two of you!" Zuko spat.

"Two?" his Uncle asked, confused.

"Oh, so the great Prince Zuko can't take on two little girls?" Katara pouted, "How _shameful_."

Zuko roared in anger, slamming his fist onto the table as Renek watched the group with amusement.

"Now now, Zuko. Control yourself around company. You haven't even introduced me to our new traveling companion yet!"

Zuko glared at his Uncle, but did as he was told, "Uncle. This is Katara: waterbender, thief, _utter annoyance_, and the new addition to our team for the search for the Avatar. We picked her up originally as a prisoner when we caught her stealing from a lone village, but I decided to show some _kindness_," Zuko gave her a stare at the word kindness, "and allow her to keep her hands clean by joining our hunt. Katara, this is my Uncle Iroh, retired general to the fire nation army, and has been traveling with me since I began my search."

"Pleased to meet you Iroh! May I call you that?" Katara said cheerfully, offering her hand to him.

"Of course!" Uncle Iroh said happily, accepting her outstretched hand.

"Lovely." Zuko said bitterly, sitting down next to his Uncle, "Now that we have that out of the way, we need to decide our next move."

"Why so soon, Zuko? Settle down, relax! Have some tea." Iroh said, shoving a cup of tea under his nose.

"Yeah! Stay in Omashu for a few days." Renek added.

Zuko turned to him, "Why are you still here?"

"I'm helping make sure you don't destroy the city." Renek said with a smirk.

"We are having a private conversation! Get out of here!" Zuko said angrily.

Renek laughed, but went to the other side of the tea shop with the other soldiers after giving Katara another wink.

Katara watched Iroh, immediately taking a liking to him. He was full of wisdom and life, and was obviously the opposite of Zuko. She wondered how Zuko put up with him, or how Iroh put up with Zuko. As she sipped her tea, she casually watched them bicker back and forth, the Uncle almost always winning out over his hot headed nephew with a confusing line of wisdom that nobody really understood.

"Alright! Enough stalling!" Zuko said after an hour of talking in the tea shop, "We are going to be seen as invaders if we do not leave by dusk. It's time to get moving."

"Wait just a moment Zuko." Iroh said as he finished off his fourth cup of tea, "Let us discuss our current situation first. It will be just the three of us travelling together you say?"

"Unless you have someone else in mind."

Katara glanced over to Renek, but immediately dismissed the idea.

Iroh rubbed his beard for a moment, "Well, adding another member to this small group would be ideal. After all, I am getting old and may prove to be a hard travelling companion!"

Zuko slammed his palm to his forehead, "I really don't need to be reminded."

Iroh smiled brightly, "Perhaps another strong fighter or tactical advantage would balance out my old and weary bones. We should look around the city for an able fighter."

"We have no time for that Uncle."

"Hmmm… I don't suppose we can ask your sister?"

"Uncle! How could you even suggest that!"

Katara raised an eyebrow. He had a sister? The princess of the fire nation… How interesting.

"Yes, yes, that would be a bad idea, wouldn't it?" Iroh said with a sigh, "Well, maybe we will run into someone on our travels! I do enjoy meeting new and fascinating strangers. It is one of life's many great indulgences."

"Maybe we should have brought along Toph." Katara muttered.

Zuko glared at her.

"Toph?" Iroh asked.

"It is nobody of importance." Zuko said quickly, jumping up from his seat, "Let's move."

Iroh and Katara followed the young Prince out of the tea shop, the small army of soldiers forming a small circle around them, with Renek somehow managing to squeeze in right next to Katara. They travelled around for a bit; Zuko's Uncle continuously stopped into every store that interested him, Renek found every opportunity to strike up a conversation with Katara, and Zuko yelled at him at every chance he got. Eventually, the old man dragged them into a small animal shop.

"Zuko, relax! We have a few hours to spare!" Iroh said calmly as they stepped through the door.

Zuko's hands were clenched so tightly, his knuckles had turned white ten minutes ago. Katara bit her lip, suppressing her laugh. She wandered inside, Renek stalking behind her, happily looking around at all of the animals. There were normal animals such as cats and dogs, and then there were more exotic things such as cat owls, dragon hawks, long eared rabbits, domesticated Pygmy Pumas, Sparrowkeets, and other birds. Katara was fascinated by all of the different animals, petting and feeding them small treats the shop owner's assistant kindly offered her.

"Ah, you like the Pygmy Pumas?" the owner asked as he came from the back room, wiping his hands on his dirty brown apron.

Katara smiled at the man, who looked almost sixty years old with the laughing lines to prove it, "Yes. They are so cute at this age." She said, turning to the small cat like creatures in the basket they were in. Katara reached a hand inside, letting them fight over who got to lick her hand.

"They are very loyal, but grow up to be quite large. It is a big commitment to own one, but a much larger reward."

"What's the reward?"

"A loving friend." The man said cheerfully, scratching one of the kittens behind it's ears, "They are very fast, and fine fighters."

Katara picked one of them up, cradling it in her arms. She laughed quietly as she played with the small black animal.

Renek patted the creature on its head, "You know, these are the Kings of the Alleyways." He said.

"What makes you say that?" Katara asked.

"Well, they primarily live on the streets. I've been told they adapted to living in the cities, so they are thinner and can move around much more easily or something." Renek replied with a shrug, "But this one looks pretty cute."

Katara smiled, realizing that it was cute. It's fur was sleek and black with bright green eyes, looking almost playful. However, it's sharp teeth and dangerous looking claws reminded Katara that it could easily rip her to shreds.

"Ah, a female Pygmy Puma!" Iroh said from behind her, "What a find indeed!"

Iroh came up and scratched the kitten under her chin. She wagged her tail happily, a deep purr coming from within her throat. Iroh chuckled.

"Zuko, I do believe we have found our fourth companion!" Iroh called out, pulling out a small coin purse from within his pocket.

Zuko stalked over, an unpleasant look on his face, "We do not need a Puma to take care of." He said bluntly.

"Oh Zuko, lighten up." Katara said, raising the kitten up to eye level, "Just look at that face!"

The Puma clawed at Zuko's nose playfully. He gave out a yell, pushing it back towards a giggling Katara, "It will be nothing but a disturbance."

"It will grow up and help us, Zuko! Come on. You know how useful it would be to have her! She can hunt and fight… Please?" Katara pleaded.

"Of course!" Iroh said, giving the owner the proper amount of money.

"Uncle!" Zuko yelled, "Why are you buying the Puma?!"

"An animal companion may prove to have been a wise choice, Prince Zuko." Iroh said wisely, putting away his coin bag, "Especially a Pygmy Puma. They are very intelligent, and know when danger is coming. This little Puma may save our lives."

Zuko's eye twitched. After considering whether or not to make a scene, he stormed out of the store, Renek quickly following to keep an eye on him. Katara watched his departure with a frown.

"Don't mind him." Iroh said, looking in the same direction, "Zuko has been under a lot of stress and pressure recently. This is not who my nephew is." Turning to Katara he continued, "He is actually a very nice person! He just has it bottled up inside of him at the moment, for he thinks that some things are more important than others."

"Like what?" Katara asked, cradling the soft Puma in her arms.

"He feels as if he does not find the Avatar, he will never be able to have his honor restored."

"What makes him say that?"

"Well, his father told him that he would never be able to restore his honor unless he returned home with the Avatar." Iroh said with a painful laugh, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "But I do not believe that. I have a feeling that my brother has sent him out on a wild chase that will never allow him to return."

Katara's face dropped, and she looked down to the Puma. He may be a fire nation Prince, but Katara still found it in her heart to pity Zuko. To be banished from one's home was probably unbearable. Suddenly, the cruel banished Prince became slightly more human.

But only a bit.

"What makes you think he won't be able to find the Avatar?" Katara asked, looking back up to him."

"The last Avatar was discovered dead, my dear girl. The Avatar that is wandering about now must be around Zuko's age, and most likely is being hidden far away somewhere to protect them."

"Why? Are there more people looking for the new Avatar?"

"Only the whole fire nation." Iroh laughed, leading her outside of the shop, "If I were the Avatar, I would offer this advice; never show your face unless you are ready to take on my brother, the Fire Lord."

Katara's eyes widened slightly. Take on the Fire Lord? She knew that there was a war going on, but never really got involved with it. Not many people she had known were involved either, but then again, her last acquaintances were Toph, and then her "friends" from a few years ago.

Her mind instantly wandered from those memories.

So… The war had really gotten to the point of no return? No peaceful arrangement? If Iroh believed that the Avatar (_not_ her, of course) would have to fight a powerful king, Katara was sure he was right. After all, why question the words of a wise old man? Katara remembered her own elders back at the South Pole were a source of knowledge and wisdom; should you have any questions or concerns, you would often find yourself humbly standing before their tent asking for guidance.

Katara hugged the Puma closer to her chest. It purred roughly.

"What will you be naming your new companion, Katara?" Iroh asked happily as they strolled down the street to a grumpy Zuko.

"You shouldn't have an animal to name." Zuko said with a glare.

Renek elbowed him in the arm playfully, "Hey, don't say that! What's done is done, and you have to admit, it's pretty cool."

Zuko shoved him away, "Do not touch me."

Katara smirked at Zuko, "I think you're just jealous because you didn't get one."

Zuko opened his mouth, a retort at his lips, but slowly closed it realizing he could not win this battle. He gave a huff and led the group back in the direction of the gate leading outside.

"I think I'll name her Kayi." Katara decided.

Iroh smiled at her, "An excellent choice."

The group eventually made their way out of the city, the earthbenders abandoning them as they walked through the gates.

"Hey, Katara!" Renek said, grabbing her arm before she left.

Katara held back, releasing Kayi and letting her chase after Zuko's feet, "Yeah?" she asked.

"It was pretty awesome meeting you." Renek said casually as he leaned against the giant rock wall surrounding Omashu, "Maybe you could come back some day, yeah?"

Katara smiled at him, "Maybe. I'm not entirely sure. I'm not the trip manager." She laughed, jabbing a thumb in the direction of the fire nation soldiers, "I don't really know where I'm going now."

"Well, maybe you could just stay here? I can set you up with some things."

Katara bit her lip, the offer tempting her, "I really wish I could. But I can't."

Renek shrugged, "I figured as much."

"It's not that I'm just saying that!" Katara said quickly, stepping forward to show her honesty, "I really am not allowed to leave their little group. I'm sort of bound or something like that."

Renek smiled, grabbing her hand, "I know. But if you need a place to run away to…" he said with a wink, "Know you have Omashu." And kissed her hand lightly.

Katara blushed, slowly sliding her hand from his, "Uhhm.. Well, it was great hanging around with you!" she said quickly, "I'll see you some other time!"

"I know." Renek said, giving her a large smile and walking back into the city.

Katara watched him walk away with a sigh. Why did so many good things get ruined by Zuko? First he stole Toph away from her, and now a chance at a perfectly normal life in Omashu? It wasn't fair.

_Curse that angry Prince_! Katara thought as she walked back to Zuko and Iroh, _It's official. Whenever I make friends, they just get taken away. _

"Finally." Zuko said, brushing a bit of dirt off of his armor as she approached, "Uncle and I have decided to start a course through the desert, and up to Ba Sing Se."

Katara's heart leapt. To Ba Sing Se? That was where she was going to meet Toph!

Katara swallowed her excitement quickly, "Oh?"

"Yes. But it isn't a straight lined path." Iroh said sadly, pulling out his map, "Zuko insists on going all through the desert!"

"Why?" Katara asked, slightly confused.

"We are looking for the Avatar, not a normal man." Zuko said harshly, "He could be anywhere, especially where we do not expect him to be."

"He? Man? What if it's a _girl_?" Katara asked, slightly insulted.

"It will take weeks!" Iroh cried.

"_Whoever_ it is," Zuko said, drawing a line around the desert and up to Ba Sing Se with his finger, "they may be anywhere. So we're looking."

"What about everything below us?" Katara asked, "Why didn't you check the swamps?"

"Is this your team?" Zuko said, "Are you the leader?"

"No."

"Silly me, I thought you were implying that _you_ made the travelling arrangements." He said sarcastically.

Kayi brushed up against Katara's legs, purring loudly. She picked her up, glaring at Zuko.

"We will each be travelling on a rhino for now. Once we get to the desert, we'll be trading them in for something more suited for the desert." Zuko said, folding the map and returning it to Iroh.

"You know, you're not a very fun travelling partner." Katara said as she jumped up on a rhino, placing Kayi in front of her.

"I don't care." Zuko responded.

"Now now, if all you two are going to do is argue the whole way there, it will take twice as long!" Iroh said from atop his mount, "You must learn to live together. We are, after all, going to become as close as family!"

Katara rolled her eyes, urging her rhino away from Omashu.

_Fat chance_.

* * *

**Sorry for the sudden ending, I just HAD to stop it somewhere.**

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